Melbourne's little corner store that has traded since 1884
Since it opened in 1884, The Parkville Store has traded right through wars and pandemics and is still serving takeaway sandwiches and coffees.
But the owner of the freehold at 52 Morrah Street, Simon Barr, development director at Ubertas, is selling up after nine years of ownership.
The 82 sq m shop is currently leased to Cafe Piccolina, which is owned and operated by the managers of Naughton’s hotel from around the corner on Royal Parade.
They have a four-year lease starting last year and pay $64,890 a year in rent.
An 109 square-metre attached residence contributes a further $40,000 a year.
Stonebridge Property Group agents Max Warren, Dylan Kilner and Nic Hage are planning to sell via auction if it doesn’t sell earlier. They’re expecting up to $3 million.
Big bacon deal
Property developer Lucent has snapped up a former bacon factory in Northcote in an off-market deal.
The 6131 sq m site at 84-96 Bastings Street has been remediated after heavy contamination from the chemicals used to process the pig meat.
Records show the vendor was Waratah Properties, which bought the factory behind Westgarth Primary School, in 1973.
The company was formerly known as Steiger and Boehm, a company which featured in the 1982 Royal Commission into the Meat Industry for its part in the 1970s meat substitution scandal.
Colliers agents Joe Kairouz, Hamish Burgess and Josef Dickinson declined to confirm a price which is probably around the $10 million mark.
The firm has sold $130 million worth of property in the inner-north this year, including 232 Banskia Street in Bellfield for $25 million: another $30 million for Mirvac’s purchase of a motel at 699 Park Street, East Brunswick; $21 million on 81a Bell Street in Coburg and a $16.5 million deal in Ballarat Street, Brunswick.
Blakes Feast
Boutique caterer Blakes Feast has slid into one of the tightest retail strips in Melbourne, taking space at 111 Church Street, Brighton.
The caterer has signed a five-year lease, with a five-year option on the double-storey 110 sq m building.
It will become Blakes’ second Blakeaway in Melbourne, cooking and selling a range of prepared meals, bread and pastries for the takeaway market.
Fitzroys agent Tom Fisher did the deal at $70,000 a year.
Launched in 2020, Blakeaway originally sold prepared meals from the Blakes Feast kitchens via online shopping. Other outlets are in Glen Iris and Portsea.
Mr Fisher said food and beverage deals are on the increase.
“Demand for takeaway and delivery services has surged while Melburnians go through intermittent lockdowns,” he said.
About half the leases struck by Fitzroys this year have been to food and beverage operators, well above the 28.4 per cent they usually occupy, according to Fitzroys’ new Walk the Strip report.
While other retail strips are suffering, the report shows Church Street vacancies are running at just 0.7 per cent, the sharpest in Melbourne.
Truckstops unite
The regional commercial property market is expected to get a serious boost with the mass migration of Melbourne’s suburbanites from the city.
A new servo in Stawell, still under construction, has sold 10 days before the start of a public sales campaign, fetching $8 million.
The United Truckstop, at 1-7 Horsham Road, is leased for 15 years at $450,000 a year, giving the deal a yield of 5.6 per cent.
The 314 sq m shop, with a Pie Face outlet, is on a 1.138 ha site.
The transaction was negotiated by Stonebridge Property Group agents Rorey White, Kevin Tong and Justin Dowers.
It’s not just sales. Leasing deals are also getting done in quick time.
A-P’s Zelman Ainsworth and Leedwell Property’s Chris Parry have leased a former Target Country shop in Myrtleford to the Reject Shop.
The 1035 sq m Target, at 153-157 Myrtle Street, closed in early April and was leased off-market within weeks of the agents coming on board.
The Reject Shop has signed a five-year lease. Market rents for regional showrooms are running at between $180,000 to $220,000 a year gross.
Flower power
Fruit and veg behemoth LaManna Premier has sold another of its former Yarraville warehouses for $8.85 million.
Records show Santospirito Flower Wholesalers snapped up the vacant 7188 sq m property at 360-374 Whitehall Street, settling at the end of August.
The acquisition consolidates the Santospirito holdings in this corner of Yarraville. The flower wholesaler bought LaManna’s other redundant warehouses in 2019, paying $4.4 million for 1 Minnie Street and $2.2 million for 320 Whitehall Street.
It’s a sizeable 12,000 sq m chunk of land opposite the docks. Santospirito, which has flower farms in Torquay, moved its wholesale operations into 1 Minnie Street last year.
LaManna Premier has retained its head office on Hyde Street, Footscray, but has moved its warehousing to Epping, near the Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable market.
CBRE’s Bryce Pane, Harry Kalaitzis and Tom Hayes managed the deal which fetched a building rate of $3528 a sq m.
“There was significant interest in this last-mile, cold-storage facility, resulting in a strong sale price,” Mr Pane said.
Strata office
Seven strata office owners on Richmond Hill have finally agreed to sell up their 987 sq m property.
The double-storey offices at 193A Lennox Street, just off Bridge Road, are arranged in a U shape with a central courtyard. They’re owned by a range of surgeons, physiotherapists, lawyers and private investors.
Colliers agents Anthony Kirwan, Alex Browne and Leon Ma are handling expressions of interest and expect more than $10 million.
The site is behind Poly Australia’s 3437 sq m site which stretches from Bridge Road to Allowah Terrace and next door at 195 Lennox Street.
Institute offloads
The Southern Cross Institute is off-loading its West Melbourne campus.
The 1455 sq m building is on a 1000 sq m site at 52-58 Chetwynd Street on the CBD fringe.
The privately owned health-focused educational group has had 700 students on the site in the past. It bought the office building in 2017, paying $6.5 million.
NSL Property Group’s Guy Naselli, who handled the transaction in 2017, has the listing again and is expecting more than $9 million.
SCI has other sites in North Melbourne and is planning to expand into New South Wales and Adelaide.
