1143 High Street, Armadale
A local business owner paid $2.5 million for the 125sqm shop on 138sqm of land.
86 Smith Street, Collingwood
The 275sqm multi-storey building sold for $2.39 million. It is occupied by Shane Delia’s Maha North bar and restaurant on a 5-year lease with options to 2037, returning $127,720pa plus outgoings and GST.
117 Auburn Road, Hawthorn
The 201sqm building with 2 retail tenancies and dwelling sold for $1.1 million. Rent is circa $50,000pa.
57 Springs Road, Clayton South
The 144sqm building on a 212sqm site sold for $520,000. It has a 3+3-year lease from September 2023 returning $24,336pa.
59 Garden Street, South Yarra
A local investor bought the 350sqm multi-level building for $2.13 million, on a 4.1% yield and a land rate of $11,000/sqm. Architecture firm Telha Clarke occupies the building, which is on a 195sqm site with Activity Centre zoning.
14-16 Queens Avenue, Hawthorn
An owner-occupier paid $1.825 million for the 240sqm warehouse conversion, which is on a 316sqm site zoned Commercial 1 with side and rear ROW.
6 Prospect Place, Boronia
A local buyer and local vendor traded the 1,329sqm facility on a 2,000sqm site for $4 million. It is occupied by Number 1 (Australia) Pty Ltd and traded on a 4.41% yield, with the lease currently returning $176,505pa plus outgoings and GST.
Unit 1, 56 Smith Road, Springvale
A private investor purchased the vacant 480sqm office and warehouse unit for $1.405 million.
11/5 Scanlon Drive, Epping
The 377sqm office and warehouse unit sold for $1.2 million, with a lease in place returning $60,000pa.
2 Beaconsfield Street, Doncaster
Stilwell Motor Group leased the 535sqm workshop on a 900sqm site, which they will use as a Volvo car service centre. They signed a 5+5-year lease at $140,000 plus GST plus outgoings.
2/35 Logistics Street, Keilor Park
The 347sqm office and warehouse within Translink Business Park was leased at $60,000pa.
2 Hertali Street, Truganina
ASX-listed Stockland sold off the 1,800sqm corner parcel to a local developer for over $2.16 million.
26A & 26B Dickens Street, Elwood
The 822sqm corner site home to St Kilda Day Hospital and general practice St Kilda South Medical Centre sold for $5.701 million, on a 7.74% yield. Not-for-profit MSI occupies St Kilda Day Hospital, while the Medical Centre has subleases to Sonic Health and Healius Pathology. Total building area is 418sqm, plus basement parking for 7 cars.
Iconic Freehold in Booming Melbourne Location with Long Lease to Blue-Chip Tenant Hits the Market
The freehold of popular pub Harlow, with a long lease to one of Australia’s premier operators and located in one of Melbourne’s hottest lifestyle locations, has hit the market in an offering that will set the early pace for the hotels sector in 2024.
Located in Melbourne’s “Silicon Yarra” - a global innovation precinct with a leading lifestyle and hospitality offering - the historic 447 Church Street, Cremorne property is occupied by major national tenant Australian Venue Co. (AVC), and is being offered for sale through Fitzroys’ Paul Burns and Chris James via Expressions of Interest closing Wednesday, 27 March at 12 noon.
The property comprises a 1,100sqm building, boasting a ground floor bar and dining space, a sprawling split-level beer garden, rooftop bar, and neon-drenched basement bar. It is on a 485sqm corner site with a 17.42m frontage to Church Street and of nearly 28m to Lesney Street. AVC’s 25-year lease runs to 2039 with 2 options of 10 years each, and currently returns $516,785pa with 3% annual increases and a market review at option.
“Showing huge confidence in the booming location, Australian Venue Co. recently undertook a $3.7 million renovation of the property, and ahead of time was very happy to extend its lease by 10 years, which now runs until 2039,” Burns said.
“This is a significant corner freehold in a premier commercial, retail, lifestyle and hospitality precinct. It’s incredibly rare for something like this to be offered. The investment fundamentals are extremely strong - featuring a net lease with a 25-year term with long options to one of Australia’s best hotel operators.”
AVC owns and operates a total portfolio of 210 venues across Australia and New Zealand, including St Kilda’s famous The Esplanade Hotel. The $50 billion alternative investments-focused firm PAG is currently completing a $1.45 billion deal to take an 80% controlling stake in AVC, effectively valuing the business at more than $1.81 billion. The AVC portfolio is reportedly expected to make $210 million in EBITDA for the 2024 financial year, an upgraded figure following the business trading “very well”.
“We’re expecting very keen interest from pub investors, and we’re likely to see broader interest from the market also. Ultimately, this is good real estate in a booming location. Passive investors looking for bottom-drawer, secure cashflow will see a blue-chip tenancy covenant in arguably the hottest suburban location in Melbourne,” Burns said.
“Australia’s hotels market has shown incredible resilience in the past few years, reflected in PAG’s recent backing of AVC,” Burns said.
The property is on a prominent corner site on Church Street, within the highly sought-after commercial precinct of Cremorne, which has a high concentration of co-working and creative spaces and international headquarters. Major commercial occupiers in and around the area include Carsales, Seek, Disney, Tesla, NDIS, MYOB, Adidas, Australia Post, Red Energy, Reece, 7-Eleven, Uber, Mattel, REA Group and 2XU.
A multitude of nearby restaurants cafés and bars along Swan Street and Church Street create what is broadly recognised as Melbourne’s best hospitality precincts. The commercial and lifestyle markets has attracted many Melburnians looking to live, work and play in the inner city, resulting in a surging local catchment living in new high-density residential dwellings.
Meanwhile, East Richmond Train Station is diagonally opposite the property, and numerous nearby tram stops along Church Street and Swan Street further enhance its accessibility and amenity.
The building at 447 Church Street has been occupied as a licensed premises since the 1850s. Prior to AVC’s refurbishment and operation was The Great Britain Hotel - or The GB, as it was affectionately known - a local institution that in past decades was an early champion of craft beers and hub for live local music.
REIV Finds New HQ
Agents representative body, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) has paid $10 million for an Abbotsford building that will become its new headquarters.
The multi-level 1,658sqm building at 617 Victoria has 52 car parks and is 200m from Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre.
The REIV sold its 335 Camberwell Road, Camberwell home of 40 years a few months ago for around $26.5 million.
Ultimate Land Bank Investment on 1,545sqm of Commercial 1-Zoned Major Shopping Strip Land
Melbourne’s childcare centre market is kicking off 2024 with an offering that offers buyers the ultimate landbank investment opportunity in one of the city’s most famous shopping strips.
Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi, Tom Fisher and Ben Liu are marketing263-265 Centre Road, Bentleigh, which is being offered to the market for the first time in 25 years. Expressions of Interest close Wednesday, 20 March at 3pm.
Expectations are around $6.5 million.
The purpose-built 93-place childcare facility has a secure 10+10+10-year lease to Evolve Early Learning, trading as Roseberry House, and owned by New Zealand publicly-listed Evolve Education Group, which has a market capitalisation of over $100 million.
Rental return is $366,352pa with fixed annual increases. The lease includes a redevelopment clause after the expiry of the initial 10-year term.
The facility is on a valuable Commercial 1-zoned landholding of 1,545sqm within major shopping strip Centre Road, Bentleigh, boasting a huge street frontage of 33.8m.
“This is the ultimate land bank investment, providing purchasers with the ultra-rare opportunity to secure an impressive childcare centre on a Commercial 1-zoned site of this size and nature within a high-performing, blue chip shopping strip.”
“Investors have the opportunity to acquire an excellent set-and-forget investment, with the asset generating a strong income with fixed annual increases from a secure lease covenant backed by public company guarantee, and located in a growing suburb with a family-dominated demographic and a high number of primary schools, offering a very healthy childcare demand dynamic both now and into the future,” Kombi said.
“Land bankers can enjoy the strong income from a quality lease covenant and great future tenancy prospects while assessing their options for the site with timeline flexibility, given the lease includes a future redevelopment clause. The favourable zoning presents future potential for multi-level development outcomes in what has been one of Melbourne’s best-performing shopping strips over recent years.
Centre Road is home to 3 full-line supermarkets in Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, all major banks and a host of recognised national and local traders that drives strong activity every day and into the night. According to Fitzroys’ Walk the Strip report, Centre Road has a low vacancy rate of 5.2%.
Fisher said the low vacancy rates highlight the strong trade conditions in the area, supported by excellent demographic fundamentals and a rapidly expanding residential population stemming from the many high-rise residential buildings completed within the area over the past 5 years as developers respond to surging commercial, retail and residential demand.
Developments in close proximity to 263-265 Centre Road include Momentum Global’s 277-279 Centre, Edenhem’s 322-328 Centre Road, and 342-346 Centre Road by Alba Property - each of 7 levels - and Moniton’s 5-level 261 Centre Road. Meanwhile, Bent Street, filtering off Centre Road has seen a significant shift in development activity, including the recent construction of several multi-level apartment projects.
“All of these developments have added to the vibrancy of Centre Road, Bentleigh and enhanced trade prospects during both day and night,” Fisher said.
He added, “There’s clearly demand for development product in the area. Centre Road is evolving into a true shopping and lifestyle precinct with day and night offerings, attracting a growing immediate population.”
Liu said the area has benefited from the recently redeveloped Bentleigh Railway Station along with the removal of the level crossing creating an efficient flow of vehicular traffic along Centre Road. He added that due to the convenient accessibility to major roadways such as Nepean Highway, North Road, South Road and Warrigal Road, the Centre Road precinct draws patronage from all across metropolitan Melbourne.
Disclosure: The weekly Fitzroys Property Wrap is for information only on transactions in the Melbourne property market. Fitzroys provides this information as a public service. We are not purporting that all sales and leases within this report were transacted by Fitzroys. Terms/Privacy © Copyright 2023 Fitzroys.