Mount Martha pub changes hands for $15.7 million

However, the tenant – hospitality industry identity John Haddad’s Taverns of Victoria – is barely halfway through its lease, and it has further options, so any major changes could be more than a decade away.

Six of the offers came in at prices that pitched the deal’s yield into the very tight sub-3 per cent range, which suggests there is still plenty of cash in the pub market.

However, Stonebridge agent Rorey James, who handled the deal with Nic Hage, and Kevin Tong, said it remains an interest rate sensitive market, “particularly for assets in excess of $10 million, which typically require significant debt to purchase”.

The original historic hotel at 614 The Esplanade was built in the 1920s as a boarding school before being redeveloped as a hotel in the mid-30s. Records show the vendor paid $5.15 million for it in 2002.

Mitchell House

Mitchell House, one of the CBD’s iconic Art Deco buildings, is on the market for the first time in more than half a century.

The property and its attached neighbour Milledge House – on the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth streets – are expected to fetch between $55 million and $60 million.

It is a big price jump on other recent CBD deals, but the buildings at 358 Lonsdale Street are on a whopping 1800 square metre footprint.

During the week, 406 Collins Street sold for about $30 million, as did 99 Queen Street in April. Last month, 333 Queen Street fetched $35 million.

The 4660 sq m Lonsdale Street buildings were constructed in 1936 to a design by architect Harry Norris. Both are fully leased with multiple tenants, some of which have been trading on the site for more than 30 years.

The vendor is Inner Metropolis Holdings, a joint venture between the descendants of late textile magnate Henry Krongold and Sydney Hack, who paid $1.5 million for the property in 1970.

Cushman & Wakefield agents Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma have the listing. Last week they sold 189-191 Lonsdale Street to a hospitality operator for $9.1 million.

Osborne House

One of the last remaining old boarding houses on the CBD fringe is on the market.

Osborne House, at 38-44 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy, faces the Carlton Gardens and the World Heritage-listed Exhibition Buildings.

Unison Housing has owned the property since 2008 when the state government gave its predecessor, Yarra Community Housing, a slew of boarding houses to accommodate homeless and low-income people.

Unison has been selling off its boarding houses since 2015-2016 and building new self-contained flats. This property is the last on its books and Unison chief executive James King said the group has so far delivered 216 new units with the proceeds of the sales.

Osborne House is believed to be the second documented house in Fitzroy. Built in 1850, it was expanded in 1887 before being converted into a boarding house.

Its neighbour, Salisbury House, fetched $5 million in 2015 and is now owned by St Vincent’s Hospital, which is slowly acquiring properties on its borders.

Fitzroys agents Chris James, David Bourke and Ben Liu are handling the sales campaign but declined to estimate a price guide, given the myriad heritage considerations.

The property is on 1500 sq m of land and includes 52 rooms in two three-storey buildings.

Cremorne

The Cremorne technology hotspot continues to pump out the heat.

The Wittner headquarters at 127-129 Cremorne Street is the third office-warehouse on the street to come up for sale this month.

The site has been occupied by shoe manufacturer and retailer Wittner for many years. The company has a lease until 2029, making the property a prime land banking opportunity.

It is on 720 sq m of land and is expected to fetch more than $8 million.

If put together with the $20 million-plus neighbour, the landholding would total nearly 2250 sq m.

JLL’s Josh Rutman, Tim Carr, MingXuan Li and Colliers’ Alex Browne, Ben Baines, Ted Dwyer and James Zhuang are fielding sales enquiries.

The JLL team are also selling the former Stitches headquarters, at 167-169 Cremorne Street. That 8320 sq m riverside site is expected to fetch more than $70 million.

Mernda centre

Among the steady flow of supermarket-anchored retail investments coming to market is the Mernda Town Centre and its surrounding land.

The 9784 sq m Woolworths-anchored site and two adjoining parcels of land – covering around 145,000 sq m – are expected to sell for about $100 million.

The shopping centre returns $3.65 million a year in rent. Stonebridge agents Julian White, Justin Dowers, Kevin Tong and Chao Zhang have the listing, under instruction from transaction advisor Charter Keck Cramer.

The 26.4 hectare site on the corner of Bridge Inn and Plenty roads was purchased from Woolworths in 2018 for $51.5 million.

The town centre project was developed by an entity, including Dorman Capital, the family office of the founder of Regis Healthcare. It is close to Mernda railway station and the new Whittlesea Hospital, about 25 km north of Melbourne’s CBD.

First timer

An Asian-based investor is making their first foray into the Australian commercial property market, buying a Woolworths supermarket in Monbulk for around $14.5 million.

The 6900 sq m freestanding supermarket has been trading at the Yarra Ranges site since it was built in the 1980s. It was refurbished in 2016.

Woolworths has a 20-year lease on the property – located on the corner of Moores and Main roads – with options until 2064. The property returns $650,000 a year in rent, giving the deal a 4.5 per cent yield.

CBRE agent Nathan Mufale, who did the deal with JJ Heng and Scott Hawthorne, said 20 offers were lodged for the property.

Closer to the city, a Sydney investor has purchased a Woolies Metro at 141-147 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill, for $5.9 million, soon after it failed to sell at auction. Slow bidding between three parties had cooled before it was passed in at $5.72 million.

The 670 sq m property, on the corner of Gold Street, returns $225,102 a year in rent, which reflects a skinny 3.81 per cent yield.

Colliers agents Tim McIntosh, Matt Stagg and Yvonne Zhou handled the sale.

In the north-east of the state, the freestanding Maryborough Woolworths is for sale for the first time and is expected to fetch more than $17 million.

The 4294 sq m property and BWS bottle shop is on a 9699 sq m site at 34-36 Tuaggra Street.

Woolworths pays more than $940,000 a year in rent, with a lease running to 2034 and further options. The retail giant has almost completed a $9 million store refurbishment that will include a “direct-to-boot” service.

Savills agents Rick Silberman and Stephen Bolton are running the expressions of interest sales campaign.