A local investor has acquired the home of popular bar and eatery Madras Bros. on Smith Street in Fitzroy, following strong enquiry for a rare opportunity to invest in one of Melbourne’s prime inner-city lifestyle and hospitality hot-spots.
Fitzroys agents Terence Yeh, Lewis Waddell and Chris Kombi sold 129 Smith Street under the hammer for $2,010,000 at a sharp 3.5% yield on behalf of a private investor.
Offered for the first time in 35 years, the two-storey building is on a 207sqm site and is leased to Madras Bros. on a 5 x 3 year deal over the ground floor restaurant and first floor apartment.
“The high levels of enquiry during the campaign and competition between multiple bidders at auction demonstrated the ongoing demand to invest in one of Melbourne’s most tightly held retail strips, within walking distance from the CBD,” Yeh said.
It follows Fitzroys’ sale during the year of 86 Smith Street, home of hospitality identity Shane Delia’s Biggie Smalls eatery for $3.58 million, at a similar sharp yield of 3.51%.
Waddell said the recent introductions of Biggie Smalls, as well as the nearby IDES, by Peter Gunn (ex-Attica) have added to the Smith Street’s outstanding reputation as one of Melbourne’s most desirable destinations for exciting and new hospitality offerings.
“The continued renewal of the city’s inner-north has seen a boom of trendy medium and high density residential developments and warehouse conversions, further underpinning the catchment of what has become a key component of Melbourne’s diverse cultural offer.
“Smith Street and its surrounds are popular amongst students and upwardly mobile and younger professionals that prosper in the 24-hours, seven-days-a-week trading environment.”
The immediate area has seen a significant amount of investment from local Council and developers in trying to keep up with the demand of population growth and demand for amenities.
Kombi said investors are keen to capitalise on the ongoing growth of the area.
“The local population continues to surge with the completion of a number of medium and high density developments nearby and others in various stages of planning and construction,” he said.
The property is well serviced by public transport amenities and major road arterials with route 86 tram on its doorstep, Collingwood railway station, and Victoria Parade and the Eastern Freeway within close proximity.
Madras Bros. was established by brothers Rishi and Magesh, who arrived in Melbourne 17 years ago from a background rich in hospitality in India where their family runs restaurants and coffee plantations.
Ten years ago, they bought their first restaurant Saris, a classic curry house in Traralgon, two hours east of Melbourne. Later they opened The 3844, a bar in the same region of Gippsland, and following the continued success of both the restaurant and the bar, Rishi and Magesh established Madras Bros.