On the CBD-fringe, a design studio currently in North Melbourne paid $1.03 million for a 133 sq m office at the front of level one, 458 Swanston Street.
That deal follows another recent sale in the building, which is just north of Victoria Street, to an architect moving from Fitzroy who paid $980,000 for a 146 sq m office.
Gray Johnson agent Rory White, who handled the transactions, said: “I am expecting to see increased interest in well-located office spaces on the immediate fringe of the city area.”
Baklava bonanza
Iconic Richmond cake shop, Hellas Cakes, has drawn the blinds on 60 years of baklava and boureki.
Hellas Cakes on Lennox Street has sold.Credit:
A new owner-occupier will turn on the ovens at 322-324 Lennox Street after a hotly contested auction, with 20 registered bidders.
The shop near the Swan Street corner sold for around $4 million in an auction handled by Teska Carson agent George Takis and MPC Moss’ James Moss.
“This ends a remarkable chapter in the retail history of Richmond. After over 60 years in existence and over 50 years ownership the families decided it was time to say goodbye,” Mr Takis said.
“While the property had obvious investment and development credentials, its history played no small part in what was a great result for the vendor and an opportunity for the purchaser,” he said.
The property includes a two-storey shop on Lennox Street and a cottage at 19 Botherambo Street on 355 sq m.
Car park
An eight-storey 70- bay CBD car park is up for grabs and expected to fetch more than $20 million.
28 La Trobe StreetCredit:
The car park at 58 La Trobe Street is leased by Care Park on a monthly basis and was purchased in 2104 for $17.5 million.
The property is next door to the former Mantra hotel at 333 Exhibition Street near the corner of Victoria Street.
It’s other neighbour, overlooking the Carlton Gardens, is an office building at 20 La Trobe Street which was purchased by Korda Mentha’s Placer Property in 2017 for $34.7 million.
Expressions of Interest, handled by Colliers’ Daniel Wolman, Matt Stagg, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma, close in late-November.
“The monthly lease structure provides flexibility for a large pool of buyers,” Mr Stagg said. “Ithas the potential to be taken over by an established and experienced car park operator or otherwise re-leased on a long-term basis providing a secure investment asset.”
The individual bays have been strata-titled and could also be sold down.
Toldara mansion
One of St Kilda’s great mansions, cruelly obscured by the cream brick veneer flats which wrap around it, is on the market.
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Toldara, built in 1868, was one of the first properties in the Charnwood Estate. The St Kilda Historical Society reports it was designed by architects Crouch & Wilson for jeweller and merchant, David Rosenthal.
It is set on 1400 sq m of land on the corner of Charnwood Crescent and now bears 12 flats – some of which are in the mansion and others, built in the 1960s, on its once gracious grounds.
Records show it was bought by the current vendor’s family in 1976 for $130,000. The late Harry Weinberger and Joseph Kaltman, who survived the Holocaust, made a fortune in women’s underwear and invested in property.
The property currently returns more than $200,000 a year in rents and is expected to fetch around $7 million.
Biggin & Scott’s Claudio Perruzza is handling the sale.
Preston paints
Retailer Paintmobile is selling off its premises close to the High Street Plenty Road intersection.
The 30129 sq m site at 6-34 High Street has a permit for an 18 level 174-apartment tower.
Cushman & Wakefield agents Lukas Byrns and Marcus Neill are handling expressions of interest and quoting $14 million plus.
The Paintmobile owners bought the property in 1996, paying $530,000.
The junction’s industrial and commercial depth has been transformed since then and towers, offering city views, dominate the precinct.
The Block
The home of The Block television show is not quite as might be imagined. Every year a new site is purchased for competitive renovations, but a production space in South Melbourne used by the show is for sale.
The two-story warehouse at 170-180 Buckhurst Street is leased by Nine, also the publisher of The Age newspaper, for The Block and is apparently also the studio where the “room reveals” are filmed.
Records show the property was purchased back in 2001 for $2.6 million by the aptly named Home Ideas Show Pty Ltd. That business is owned by home exhibition show mogul Graeme Uthmeyer.
Other tenants in the 2469 sq m building include Interact Pacific and Vush. It returns $312,681 a year in rent and is expected to sell for around $10 million.
Colliers agents Tom Isakkson, Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma are handling the expressions of interest campaign with Dixon Kestles agents John Pratt and Simon Regan.
