Adelaide's Regent Arcade sells for more than $48 million
The Regent Arcade in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall has changed hands for $48.5 million following an off-market deal.
The property, which once housed the Regent Theatre, was sold to a Hong Kong-based buyer who has offices in Adelaide as well as other properties in the city, according to selling agent Remo Russo of Commercial Adelaide Real Estate Group.
Mr Russo confirmed that the property sold in November 2019, well before new regulations from the federal government that require the Foreign Investment Review Board to process all foreign investment activity.
He said the new owner, whom he declined to name, would look to conduct improvements and attract new tenants to the arcade, where about “40 per cent” of shops were vacant.
But in the long term they could look at redevelopment, subject to council approval, he said.
“They are going to keep it exactly as it is for now – it’s about improving the asset and getting a good tenancy mix … In the future, who knows, they might decide to put a couple of towers in.”
The property was previously owned by Ginos Group, the developer behind the TRYP by Wyndham Pulteney Street hotel development.
The Regent Arcade dates back to 1928 when it opened as The Regent Theatre, featuring an orchestra pit and an extensive array of paintings and sculptures.
It was the third Regent Theatre to open in the Hoyts chain and operated in that form until 1967, when the lower half of the building was transformed into the Regent Arcade with a cinema remaining up top. That cinema later closed in 2004.
Mr Russo hinted that there were plans to insert a tenant into the upstairs space left vacant by the cinema, with a rental listing posted on Commercial Real Estate in March stating it would be “perfect for nightclub, retail or office space”.