Darlinghurst building where Bill Granger's restaurant empire began is on the market
The Darlinghurst building where restaurateur and cookbook king Bill Granger opened his first cafe 28 years ago is on the market.
The corner property on Liverpool Street, where the original bills cafe still serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week, is a landmark in Sydney dining.
It’s where, in 1993, a 22-year-old Granger introduced the world to avocado on toast and where diners still often have to queue outside to enjoy his now-famous ricotta hotcakes and silky scrambled eggs around the central communal table.
Off the back of that success, Granger went to open other restaurants in Surry Hills, Bondi and soon in Double Bay, as well as London, Seoul and Tokyo. He has also written a swag of cookbooks and starred in several television series.
The 234-square-metre building, which is reported to have once been a pub, also includes the office from which the bills’ team run the operations, and a seven-room boarding house upstairs.
During the pandemic last year, the cafe closed for several months but reopened in November.
Since then, it has re-signed a five-year lease, according to agent Miron Solomons, who is selling the building with his colleague Matt Pontey from Colliers International, in conjunction with Shannan Whitney, from BresicWhitney, on behalf of receivers.
Mr Pontey said he was unable to provide a price guide given the nature of the sale.
Despite COVID restrictions tightening again from Thursday, May 6, Mr Solomons said the city fringe area that includes Darlinghurst “has weathered the pandemic well, and that is due in part to the NSW Government’s response, coupled with investors returning to traditional and well-established markets such as Darlinghurst”.
The impending sale follows announcements on nearby Oxford Street of new hotels by groups such as AsheMorgan, TOGA and Central Element, which the agents said would supply much-needed accommodation around St Vincent’s Hospital, as well as ensure the continued flow of pedestrians through the local streets.
“Investment in the city fringe and eastern suburbs has remained consistent and strong throughout the first quarter of 2021; we are witnessing strong demand for quality assets in well established, dynamic and robust markets,” Mr Pontey said.
The annual net rent for the building is about $196,250, which includes the cafe and the boarding house rooms.
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