Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi, Lewis Waddell and Ben Liu are marketing 151 Bourke Street, in the city’s famous East End, on behalf of a Melbourne-based investor. Expressions of Interest close Wednesday, 18 June at 3pm.
A price in the mid-$4 millions range is expected for the property, which comprises a shop and basement space. They are also available separately.
Offered with short-term holding income, the property has a total building area of 549sqm, encompassing a 185sqm ground floor shop with over 7m of frontage to Bourke Street, and a separately accessed basement of 364sqm. Both are fully self-contained and include toilets and air conditioning, and offer dual access from Bourke Street and Coromandel Place.
“This is an incredibly rare opportunity to acquire a leading Melbourne CBD East End asset,” Waddell said.
“It presents the chance to occupy, invest, or reconfigure and reposition, at a time in which a booming night-time economy, world-famous roll call of events, the return to the office and the upcoming completion of the Metro Tunnel are all fuelling a retail and hospitality rebound in the Melbourne CBD.
“We’re expecting interest from a range of different occupiers - in particular retail and hospitality operators - as well as value-add buyers looking to reconfigure and activate the second frontages to Coromandel Place.
“Hospitality is experiencing a boom period in Melbourne’s CBD and we expect the market will note the high levels of CBD visitation generally, as more Melburnians come to the CBD for eating, dining and nightlife experiences. That’s a very possible outcome for the property.”
According to Fitzroys’ latest edition of Walk the CBD, vacancies have come down over the past 12 months from 8.0% to 6.1%, and have been slashed by more than half since recording 14.1% two years ago. Hospitality, food and beverage and entertainment operators again drove the take-up of space over the past 12 months, with the proportion of these spaces increasing from 40.9% to 47.4% - and up further from the 34.1% at the beginning of 2023.
Kombi said, “It’s an ideal opportunity to invest or establish a presence close to Chinatown, the Bourke Hill precinct and Bourke Street Mall. This stretch of Bourke Street generates pedestrian traffic day and night - it’s surrounded by Melbourne’s finest office accommodation, national brands, and quality hospitality operators, and draws constant pedestrian traffic from workers, residents and tourists.”
He noted the property is in close proximity to the recently completed 16-level Melbourne Place Hotel, the new Maison Batard multi-level entertainment venue, and Merivale’s proposed hospitality and entertainment precinct.
“The property is remarkably accessible - it’s close to multiple major train stations at Melbourne Central and Parliament and the soon-to-open Town Hall Metro Tunnel station, as well as tram routes along Bourke, Collins, Swanston and Spring streets,” Liu added.