Late mail
The popular Post Office Hotel near Richmond train station has traded quietly in an off-market deal fetching $2.75 million.
The former Richmond South post office was one of pub group Sand Hill Road’s earliest ventures in the late 2000s and was part of the leasehold portfolio purchased by listed operator Australian Venue Co in 2022 for about $100 million.
The pub, at 92 Swan Street opposite the Corner Hotel, is one of a clutch of busy venues within staggering distance of the MCG.
It was heritage-listed in 2005 – including its interiors – and last changed hands in 2006 for $800,000.
Teska Carson’s Adrian Boutsakis did the deal which reflected a 4.72 per cent yield.
Meanwhile, the Barleycorn Hotel at 177-181 Johnston Street, Collingwood, has finally sold for $2.51 million after its third time on the market.
The initial asking price for the 600-square-metre pub was as high as $4.5 million two years ago, but property values had started to slide, and the vacant building struggled to find a buyer. Records show the vendors paid $3 million in 2017.
The Barleycorn at 177-181 Johnston Street, Collingwood.
The pub, where local bigwigs in the 19th century once discussed the establishment of a Collingwood Football Club, was recently a backpackers hostel that went bust during the pandemic.
Stonebridge agent Max Warren, who handled the sale with Dylan Kilner and Chao Zhang, said the buyer was planning to strip the backpacker fit-out and return it to its hospitality roots.
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There’s still plenty of room for gentrification along Johnston Street which has shrugged off its struggle street image in the past few years.
Still on the subject of alcohol, a bottle shop in Elwood, leased to Coles’ Vintage Cellars, sold before the recent federal election for $2.79 million on a yield of 4.5 per cent.
Fitzroy’s Mark Talbot and Lewis Waddell sold 111 Brighton Road to a local investor.
The 390-square-metre double-storey building is on 376 square metres of land on the corner of Milton Street.
Vintage Cellars has traded out of the store since 2014 and recently renewed its lease for another five years. It won’t be a Vintage Cellars for much longer, though, because Coles has dumped the name and will run all its bottle shops under the Liquorland brand.
Meanwhile, in the north, a Cellarbrations bottle-o at 380 High Street, Preston, sold for $2.38 million.
Cellarbrations at 380 High Street, Preston.
Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi and Ervin Niyaz, with Mulcahy Butera’s Robert Butera and David Butera, managed the transaction.
Out of town, a BWS shop at 61 High Street, Heathcote, sold to an interstate investor attracted by Endeavour Group’s seven-year lease. The regional yield was a bit higher than the inner-city results, at 5.75 per cent.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Raphael Favas, George Davies and Ray White MC’s Ted Dwyer did the deal.
Coles logistics
A tiny logistics centre which serves the Coles supermarket on Glenferrie Road, Malvern is on the market.
The 780-square-metre property at 1 Edsall Street backs onto the supermarket and provides crucial logistics, cold storage and administrative support.
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Records show the vendors paid $1.3 million for the property in 1987. The property is going to auction on June 27. It should prove an interesting show if it doesn’t get snapped up before the auction date.
CBRE’s Sam Guest, Jamie Hess and David Minty are handling the listing, along with First Valuations Group’s Mark Ruttner. Given the specialised nature of the property, they’re disinclined to provide a quote price.
But as a comparison, the Dan Murphys across the street at 2-8 Edsell Street fetched $21.1 million on a yield of 3.45 per cent in 2022.
The building is also close to the rear of Omnico’s new seven-storey office building which has recently gone up over the old Commonwealth Bank branch at 148 Glenferrie Road.
Golden mile
A third car dealership on Traralgon’s golden mile commercial strip has sold off-market for $23.5 million.
The deal follows two other transactions on the Gippsland town’s dealership strip last year which totalled $11 million.
The buyer of all three properties is a local unlisted property fund called Strategic Opportunities (Growth & Income) Fund.
A car dealership at 5567 Princes Highway, Traralgon has sold for $23.5 million.
All three of the dealerships are leased to South African-listed Motus holdings.
The most recent sale at 5567 Princes Highway reflects a yield of 6.43 per cent, a strong result for a regional investment with only 2.8 years left on the lease. Its showrooms, offices and service centres cover 7773 square metres on a large, 20,000-square metre landholding.
The transaction was managed by Stonebridge’s Rorey James and Kevin Tong, with Wilson Property’s Ben Wilson and Emma Dunne.
Head office
In another sign of investors returning to the office market, a syndicate has snapped up Mercy Health’s old head office in Hughesdale for $5.65 million.
The office is on the corner of Willesden Road, near Oakleigh train station, at 45-47 Warrigal Road, Hughesdale.
Mercy Health’s old headquarters at 45-47 Warrigal Road, Hughesdale.
The 1529-square-metre building has 53 car park spaces.
Mercy Health has moved to Salta’s property at 678 Victoria Street, Richmond, in the Victoria Gardens precinct. CBRE agents Scott Hawthorne, Jimmy Tat, JJ Heng and Nathan Mufale managed the deal.
Meanwhile, the Jean Hailes Foundation has listed its empty 173-175 Carnish Road office in Clayton for sale.
The 332-square-metre building is on a large 1543-square-metre parcel of land near Clayton train station.
173-175 Carinish Road, Clayton.
Allard Shelton’s Joseph Walton, Bill Makris and Tony Nguyen have the listing and are quoting more than $3.3 million.
Both properties are in the Monash Health precinct.
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