The former owners of St Kilda’s famed Espy Hotel are trying their luck again in Fitzroy, splashing $6.55 million on an empty pub in Brunswick Street.
asserted
owners → try → Street
The Sand Hill Road group, owned by five mates who launched a pub empire in their 20s, has in a twist of fate, bought the historic multi-level pub at 125-129 Brunswick Street from the same vendor it purchased the Esplanade Hotel from back in 2017.
asserted
it → own → 2017
Fronted by brothers Andy and Matt Mullins, Sand Hill Road made a motzah selling the freehold of the Espy in 2022 for $64 million.
asserted
Road → front → million
And that was after the group pocketed $100 million when they handed over the Espy’s leasehold and a clutch of other pub businesses to Australian Venue Co in 2020.
asserted
they → pocket → 2020
The brothers and their friends got into the pub game, leasing their first venue, Fitzroy’s Commercial Club Hotel, more than two decades ago.
asserted
brothers → get → venue
They have since ploughed a truckload of cash into transforming the only pub they ended up holding on to after the Australian Venue Co and Espy deal: the Waterside Workers Hotel on Flinders Street.
asserted
they → plough → Street
Now they’re looking for a new challenge.
asserted
they → look → challenge
Records show a Sand Hill Road-owned company settled on the 1649-square-metre Fitzroy pub in late August for $6.55 million.
asserted
company → show → million
Built in 1849, before the gold rush, the vacant pub is at the south end of Brunswick Street, opposite the Atherton Gardens housing estate.
asserted
pub → build → estate
It had most recently been occupied by Ichi Ni Nana, a restaurant developed by the Adamo and Sofo families after they sold the Espy to Sand Hill Road, and it last changed hands in 2012 for $4.84 million.
asserted
it → occupy → million
It’s on a large 662-sq-metre site and has a coveted 3am liquor licence for 478 patrons.
asserted
It → ’ → patrons
Stonebridge’s Nic Hage, Rorey James and Ian Lam got the deal over the line after the pub passed in at auction in April on a vendor bid of $6.5 million.
asserted
pub → get → million
Up in arms
Southside, the Celtic Club is offloading the Limerick Arms in South Melbourne which it bought for $5.3 million in 2021.
asserted
it → offload → 2021
But rather than establishing its historic operations at 364-368 Clarendon Street, the Celtic Club camped out in North Melbourne before signing a five-year lease on the Sarah Sands on the corner of Brunswick and Sydney roads.
asserted
Club → establish → roads
The club had long owned its own three-storey hotel on the corner of Latrobe and Queen streets but sold to developer Beulah (since collapsed) in 2016 for $25.6 million with expectations it would re-occupy the pub.
asserted
it → own → pub
A stoush over lift access put paid to that and the Celts moved off in a huff.
asserted
Celts → put → huff
While that transaction was preceded and followed by a stream of public bickering, it now looks like a sweet deal done at the top of the market.
asserted
it → precede → market
Colliers agents Christian Hatzis and Ryan Milivojac have the listing and are expecting around $4.5 million.
asserted
agents → have → million
It returns $254,430 a year in rent on a lease with three years left to run and a 10-year option.
asserted
It → return → years
The Glen
Listed investment bank MA Financial is splashing out $327.5 million on the Perron Group’s half-stake in The Glen shopping centre.
asserted
bank → splash → centre
The deal raises co-owner Vicinity’s current valuation of the 76,471-square-metre shopping centre to $655 million.
asserted
deal → raise → million
It was sitting on the books at $635 million in December last year.
asserted
It → sit → December
It’s a welcome return of confidence in the Melbourne market where $2.8 billion in shopping centre transactions were completed or contracted in the past financial year.
asserted
billion → ’ → year
The Glen, in the south-eastern suburbs, occupies a massive 7.2-hectare site on the corner of Springvale and High Street roads.
asserted
Glen → occupy → roads
It’s anchored by David Jones and three supermarkets and is part of a thriving strip retail, hotel and entertainment precinct.
asserted
It → anchor → precinct
CBRE’s Simon Rooney did the deal.
asserted
Rooney → do → deal
Another shopping centre set for a new owner is Greensborough Plaza in the north-eastern suburbs where David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital is reportedly undertaking due diligence.
uncertain
Capital → set → diligence
That $330 million centre is the last piece of a $3 billion 10-centre portfolio which Blackstone has been selling down over the past few years.
asserted
Blackstone → sell → years
It’s no secret Capital Gain loves an auction, especially a CBD auction and there are three coming up next month.
asserted
Gain → ’ → auction
A restaurant in Chinatown, built in 1907, at 209-211 Russell Street will go under the hammer on October 8.
asserted
restaurant → build → October
The two-storey building is a couple of doors from the Exford Hotel, on the corner of Little Bourke Street, and leased to Minh Xuoung Restaurant until February 2029, with two five-year options.
asserted
building → lease → options
The restaurant pays around $227,136 a year.
asserted
restaurant → pay → 227,136
Vinci Carbone agents Frank Vinci and Zach Molinaro have the listing and are expecting in the mid-to-high $4 million range.
asserted
agents → have → range
A week later, an historic two-level bluestone and sandstone building on the edge of the Queen Victoria Market precinct also goes under the hammer.
asserted
building → go → hammer
Built in 1860 as a house, it later became a local branch of the Bank of New South Wales and was a prominent Indian restaurant in the 20th century, attracting cricketers and other visiting celebrities.
asserted
it → build → cricketers
The 340-square-metre building is one of the last standing freestanding freeholds in the area which is now dominated by multistorey towers.
asserted
which → stand → towers
Four major projects worth more than $3 billion are going up around the market and a fifth is on the cards after Shesh Ghale listed his 3915-square-metre development site at 388 William Street (for around $90 million.)
MAKER Property’s Anthony Kirwan, George Davies and Raphael Favas are expecting
asserted
Ghale → go → million
It last changed hands in 2017 for $2.325 million.
asserted
It → change → million
Highlander hopeful
A new owner will hopefully emerge at a “realisation auction” on October 14 for a 352-square-metre development site at 490 Flinders Street, on the corner of Highlander Lane.
asserted
owner → emerge → Lane
The vendors paid a total of $10.21 million in 2021 for the property.
asserted
vendors → pay → property
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
