Adelaide’s iconic Chloe’s Restaurant site listed for $8m+
For 33 years, Chloe’s Restaurant was where generations of Adelaide diners went to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and life’s biggest occasions over fine food and wine.
Now the heritage-protected Victorian villa that housed one of South Australia’s best-known restaurants is being pitched as a rare inner-city six-storey residential development opportunity.
The former Chloe’s Restaurant and Function Centre at 36 College Road is being marketed through McGees Property’s Simon Lambert and James Juers, on behalf of a private ownership group comprising local and overseas investors, with price expectations exceeding $8 million.
Built around 1880, the grand bluestone property, which is being sold across two titles, has worn many hats over almost 150 years, from private residence, medical practice, antiques gallery and Enzo’s restaurant to its multiple award-winning Chloe’s Restaurant, which operated from 1986 to 2019.
Today, the prominent 2440-square-metre corner site is expected to attract a broad mix of buyers, from restaurateurs keen to take advantage of the revamped commercial kitchen, to residential developers specialising in adaptive reuse to preserve the site’s beautiful heritage traces, including the building structure and wraparound verandah, as well as ornate ceilings, hallway arches and leadlight windows.
Zoning allows a six-storey development
The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters has indicated developments of up to six storeys could be considered on the site, subject to planning approval, with preliminary discussions centred on a mixed-use development incorporating ground-level commercial use and residential apartments above.
“Remarkable positioning, excellent lifestyle offerings and flexible planning guidelines provide developers with the chance to deliver a legacy inner-city project (STCA),” Lambert says.
“The demand for residential product in a location like this speaks for itself.”
Adelaide housing growth beats capitals
The campaign comes as Adelaide continues to outperform Australia’s largest housing markets. Domain’s recent House Price Report found Adelaide’s median house price reached a record $1.099 million during the March quarter, overtaking Melbourne for the first time to become Australia’s fourth most expensive capital city for houses. Annual house price growth reached 16.4 per cent, compared with 6.6 per cent in Sydney and 4.4 per cent in Melbourne, while Adelaide’s median unit price climbed to a record $651,699, up 18.7 per cent year-on-year.
Lambert says the combination of scale, location and planning flexibility is rarely found so close to Adelaide’s CBD.
“This is an incredibly rare opportunity to acquire a prominent, expansive site in one of Adelaide’s most tightly-held inner-city locations,” he says.
“It’s halfway between Norwood’s The Parade – Adelaide’s premier shopping and lifestyle strip – and the vibrant East End of the CBD, so in terms of location, there’s really no better place to live.
“That makes for a great place to own a property and to run a business.”
It isn’t the first time the site has been earmarked for redevelopment.
In 2018, former owner Nick Papazahariakis secured planning approval with the council for a five-level, 3161-square-metre office and residential development.
Since then, concepts have also been prepared for a six-level residential project spanning 5665 square metres, as well as a larger 7765-square-metre scheme featuring seven levels of apartments above lower- and upper-ground-level parking.
While residential development is expected to dominate buyer interest, the property could also accommodate office, hospitality, childcare or aged care uses, subject to planning approval.
Recommissioned kitchen adds instant utility
For hospitality operators, Juers says the venue’s history provides a head start that would be difficult to replicate.
“People already know this venue, so it’s a great opportunity for someone new to purchase and/or lease and breathe new life into something already carrying goodwill whilst keeping its historic character,” he says.
“The commercial kitchen has been recommissioned under the current ownership, making this all the more an attractive economic and logistical prospect for an incoming operator.”
Long before Chloe’s became an Adelaide institution, the villa was home to auctioneer and licensed valuer J.H. Weidenhofer, medical practitioner Dr Muecke and Dr Reginald N.C. Bickford of the renowned Bickford Lime Juice family.
Victoria Kraitzer Antiques and Kent Town Galleries later occupied the property from 1967 until 1978, when Enzo’s Restaurant opened.
Its defining era began in 1985 when Papazahariakis purchased the property and undertook a painstaking restoration, returning the villa to its former elegance before reopening it as Chloe’s Restaurant the following year.
The restaurant became renowned for its French-inspired modern Australian cuisine, elegant interiors and celebrated underground cellar, which housed 20,000 bottles of rare and vintage wine.
As patronage grew, a contemporary function centre was added behind the original villa while preserving its heritage character, allowing the venue to seat 200 diners and host up to 300 guests for functions.
After more than three decades of operation, Chloe’s closed in 2019, following Papazahariakis’ retirement, paving the way for what could become another defining chapter in the property’s long history.
