Converted convict-era Salamanca warehouse with $477k income hits market
A fully-leased convict-era sandstone warehouse near Hobart’s famous Salamanca Market and the MONA ferry terminal has hit the market with expectations above $10 million, as investors continue circling tightly-held tourism-friendly assets across Tasmania.
The converted 19th-century corner property at 24 Salamanca Square, in the heart of Battery Point’s historic waterfront precinct, combines nearly half a million dollars in annual rental income with the sort of preserved Georgian-era character rarely seen in modern commercial stock.
Home to hospitality venue Botanica Bar, national retailer Banjo’s Bakery Cafe and Telstra, the property generates $477,128 in annual net income with annual increases built in, and carries a weighted average lease expiry of 3.1 years.
The two-storey warehouse – listed for sale via expressions of interest with Elders Commercial Tasmania – sits about a 10-minute walk south of Hobart’s CBD near Parliament House, within one of Australia’s best-known tourism and hospitality districts.
Each Saturday, more than 25,000 visitors stream through the Salamanca Market, while nearby Brooke Street Pier acts as the departure point for ferries to the world-famous Museum of Old and New Art.
The 753-square-metre warehouse forms part of Hobart’s historic Salamanca sandstone precinct, sitting on a 546-square-metre land parcel, adjacent to the city’s famous rows of Georgian waterfront warehouses built in the 1830s and 1840s to serve the city’s bustling maritime trade, and later evolving into a dining, retail and tourism hub.
Built by convicts transported from Britain and Ireland, the warehouses were originally used by merchants and whalers, and for waterfront storage.
Inside, exposed sandstone walls, soaring timber trusses, original hardwood floors and a dramatic A-frame attic space give the converted warehouse much of its old maritime character.
“Assets of this character very rarely come to market in Salamanca,” says Elders’ Scott Newton, who is marketing the property alongside colleague George Burbury.
“It carries the kind of irreplaceable 19th-century fabric that differentiates it entirely from generic commercial stock,” Newton adds.
“In more than two decades of operating in this market, opportunities like this are genuinely generational.”
Long-running venue Botanica Bar – a place for dining, live music and “bottomless” food and drink sessions with delicacies sourced from local distilleries and breweries – occupies the ground-floor hospitality space along with The Loft, an upstairs function venue positioned beneath the warehouse’s exposed-beam roofline, catering for up to 100 guests.
Botanica has operated from the site since 2018 and holds lease options extending through to 2040. It returns $276,416 in rent annually.
Also downstairs is Banjo’s Bakery Cafe – founded in Tasmania and now operating more than 51 stores nationally – which recently committed to a new five-year lease worth $190,000 annually, with a 12-month security deposit. The popular bakery bakes fresh bread, pies and pastries daily from a large commercial kitchen with a spacious dining area featuring exposed bluestone walls, original timber floors and ceiling beams, allowing customers to settle in.
Telstra also leases a small-scale telecommunications space within the property under a 10-year agreement running until 2034, providing an additional long-term income stream of $10,712 per year.
“The income profile here is about as well-structured as you will find in the Tasmanian market, Burbury says, adding: “You have a long-standing Hobart hospitality operator with six personal guarantors, a national franchisor with a 12-month security deposit in place, and Telstra on a decade-long infrastructure lease.
“All three tenants pay outgoings, and the reviews across the board provide genuine income growth. The combination of covenant quality and precinct scarcity will attract very serious attention.”
The surrounding Salamanca precinct is home to retailers including Kathmandu and Patagonia, as well as hospitality operators such as Maldini, Rockwall Bar & Grill and Ball & Chain Grill.
Elders says recent Salamanca and Battery Point sales have reflected yields between 3.5 and 4.62 per cent, highlighting continued demand.
The listing follows the recent sale of the nearby historic Waterman’s Hotel building for an undisclosed sum. The long-established operation, comprising bars, a restaurant and eight studio apartments, attracted widespread interest, underscoring ongoing demand for similar heritage hospitality assets in Salamanca.
The campaign also comes amid record tourism conditions in Tasmania, with the state welcoming 1.36 million visitors across the year and visitor spending climbing to $3.6 billion – up 44 per cent since 2019, according to the Tasmanian government.
The property is for sale via expressions of interest, closing at 4pm on Thursday, June 25.
