Rare shop for sale on Sydney's Dixon Street mall

On a corner with frontage on to the Dixon Street pedestrian mall, the shop is smaller than an average two-bedroom unit, at just 73 square metres – 52 square metres of ground-floor retail and 21 square metres of storage.

The property last traded three years ago to an investor from China.

The Dixon Street gates were erected in 1980 and the street turned into a pedestrian mall as part of a revitalisation of Chinatown to attract more visitors.

Agent Jordan Lee of Savills Australia, who is selling the retail space with his colleague Andy Hu, said there hadn’t been a shop sold in such a highly prized location for some time.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from local and international investors so far because of its location at the front entrance gates,” he said.

“That’s where a lot of Chinese buyers and investors first come, whenever they fly in they always walk around Chinatown, it’s one of the first destinations. It’s definitely very tightly held – not much property ever gets transacted in Chinatown and it’s attractive because of the later trading hours.”

This interest from buyers had also been helped by the result of the federal election, Mr Lee said.

It “has given buyer’s confidence and has already increased interest and enquiries”, he said.

The space is leased to the restaurant ‘Meat Lovers’ on a five-year, double-net lease, with a five-year option.

It generates a net income of $198,000 + GST a year.

The opening of the light rail is expected to generate more foot traffic in the southern area of the CBD, which has already seen an increase in residential development and the upgrading of Darling Quarter.

Mr Lee said that industry reports showed that for many overseas buyers, Sydney’s Chinatown was a cheaper and more attractive place to invest than Hong Kong or mainland China.

Late last year Mr Lee and Mr Hu sold a retail space to an overseas buyer at 85 Liverpool Street below the World Square complex for $6 million.