Hamilton Spectator building for sale for the first time since 1873
A landmark building in Victoria’s Grampians region, formerly home to one of Australia’s oldest continuously published regional newspapers, has been listed for sale for the first time since 1873 – and it comes with a unique repositioning offer.
The rare property, under a historic paint heritage overlay for its sage-green facade, stands out next to the post office along Hamilton’s main tree-lined street and comes with an undisclosed price tag, as well as a real estate agent with a strong vision for its future.
“It’s the oldest listing I’ve ever had, and I’ve been in the industry for 30 years. I’ve seen a few but nothing like that,” says selling agent Ant Belcher, of Southern Grampians Livestock & Real Estate.
“The local paper is no longer printed in Hamilton … the paper was consolidated, so that took away 80 jobs in town. That’s the only reason the actual freehold is being sold.”
The Hamilton Spectator was published on-site for 152 years, until last December, when the independently owned local rag was acquired by Star News Group’s arm, SA Today. It had housed teams of reporters, editors, advertising, production and printing staff since its inception, until their redundancy.
The property, located at 59-61 Gray Street, Hamilton, a historic and pretty provincial city in the state’s south-west surrounded by farming, still has the hallmarks of a busy local newspaper, with a newsroom setup, an archives room, printing press, production layout space and a front office.
The property is primed for repurposing and redevelopment with two buildings and a 45-space car park on-site, across four titles. It boasts four new potential income streams.
A fine-dining restaurant is among the ideas that would best suit the striking facade’s conservative classical architectural style. The site, close to the Coonawarra wine region, could also be reconfigured as a company’s headquarters, retail shop, offices, educational facilities, boutique accommodation or a community hub.
“The highest and best use of this site would be to fulfil the demand for another fine-dining restaurant in Hamilton,” says Belcher, adding the first 400 square metres of the front building could be reconfigured for its use “really well”.
“If you did decide to go down that route with major refurbishment, you get a 50 per cent discount on stamp duty, because it’s regional Victoria.”
Hamilton, a welcome pit stop for weary drivers between Melbourne and Adelaide, offers decent coffee and cafes, botanic gardens, a lake, and nearby wineries and waterfalls, but often sees residents spend their hard-earned money in neighbouring towns Warrnambool, Portland and Port Fairy, with popular eatery Izzy’s restaurant the fanciest for now.
The property’s unique blend of history and agenda-setting potential could exchange hands by the week’s end, when the expressions of interest campaign ends, says Belcher, adding that it has gone well so far. “Most of the people that have made inquiries have come through development-ready, which is interesting,” he adds.
The commercially zoned land spans 2619 square metres, offering a unique blend of scale, location, and parking capacity, with a versatile building area of 1956 square metres.
Belcher has a vision to help investors maximise the potential of the four titles with four potential income streams, and has uniquely offered to help potential buyers reposition them.
“I’m prepared to reposition it next year full time over 12 months,” he says.
Belcher visualises a high-end restaurant occupying one-third of the front building, paired with serviced offices in the back, and self-storage lockers in the second building. He suggests jazzing up the car park and adding a paying boom gate to create another income stream.
“You could also sell off any particular building or car park and keep one, two or three,” he adds. “I’d be happy to assist the buyer with project management and pre-commitment leasing.”
“Hamilton’s very central in western Victoria, an hour’s drive from the coast … we’re an hour’s drive from Coonawarra in South Australia, an hour’s drive from Halls Gap up in the Grampians. It’s an established agricultural area for sheep and cattle, and one of the oldest established towns in Victoria. It’s a good place to live.”
The Hamilton Spectator, first published in 1859 elsewhere in the town before moving into Gray Street, evolved with the times under its most recent owner, Richard Beks, who served the paper for half a century, alongside his wife and co-director. Nola Beks.
Richard said at the time of the sale last December, the transaction would usher in a new era for the newspaper, ensuring its vital role in supporting its communities continues for years to come.
Historically, kicking off a year after the first-ever typewriter prototype was invented, the newspaper provided a connection for the emerging wealthy community from the wool capital of the world.
Covering local news, sports and events, it grew into a tri-weekly operation publishing Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in its prime, before moving with the times to launch a website too, before the digital age saw the presses fall silent on Gray Street on December 21, 2024.
In January, under Star News Group’s ownership, the printing of a new-look weekly Friday edition was moved to Adelaide, and a new digital edition was born.
Speaking about the acquisition, Star News co-publisher Paul Thomas said: “These newspapers are cornerstones of their communities, and we are honoured to take on the responsibility of ensuring their future. Our aim is to rejuvenate these mastheads, grow their reach, and continue delivering quality, public-interest journalism that serves the people of Hamilton and Portland with integrity and passion.”
The property is being sold via an expressions-of-interest campaign closing at noon on Friday, October 3.
