An ultra-rare trophy investment opportunity in Melbourne’s Brighton, close to the high-performing Church Street shopping strip, has smashed the reserve price at auction and reaffirmed the suburb’s blue-chip status.
Fitzroys’ Mark Talbot and Tom Fisher sold 28 Carpenter Street for $8.38 million under the hammer, on a very sharp 3.08% yield.
The property was offered for sale for the first time in 45 years and was owned by the Estate of Tony Nanfra, a local businessman and previous President of the Rotary Club of Brighton.
After 80 enquiries were generated during the campaign, five bidders competed for the immaculately presented 504sqm double-storey building, on a large 589sqm landholding. It had a wide 15-metre frontage in the heart of Brighton’s major retail and lifestyle precinct - just metres from arguably Australia’s best-performing shopping strip, Church Street - and also presented as Bayside’s ultimate landbank opportunity.
Two bidders fought it out past the $7.5 million mark, before it sold at a massive $1.38 million above the reserve. The buyer is a passive investor who will keep the leases to three long-standing quality tenants in Dorevitch Pathology, Buxton Real Estate and dentist Lifestyle Smiles, who have leases with options through to October 2033, and maintain the strong income stream of more than $257,000 per annum
“This offered a secure, consistent cashflow from three excellent tenants at a time of sharemarket and residential market volatility,” Talbot said.
“This was hotly contested amongst locally-based buyers who were attracted to the secure income, large land area, proximity to Church Street, quality tenants, off-street parking and high-profile nature of the building,” Talbot said.
“Buyers clearly haven’t been put off by the rising rates and have plenty of cash in the bank to spend. We’re still seeing strong enquiry, competitive bidding and tight yields in this part of the market.
“Investors are showing huge faith in bricks and mortar assets.”
The site is zoned Commercial 1 and has a highly flexible Design and Development Overlay, providing a magnitude of future redevelopment outcomes.
Fisher said the site presented as Bayside’s ultimately landbank opportunity, an ultra-rare opportunity to acquire a sizeable landholding in the immediate proximity to arguably Australia’s best-performing shopping strip, which attracted a number of landbankers.
According to Fitzroys’ forthcoming Walk the Strip report, Church Street again retained the lowest vacancy rate of Melbourne’s iconic shopping strips in 2022. 28 Carpenter Street is 60 metres from some of Australia’s most popular fashion and lifestyle retailers, close to both Woolworths and the iconic Dendy cinema complex, and sits amongst leading retailers including Scanlan & Theodore, Mecca, Witchery, Kookai, and major banks.
Fitzroys recently negotiated the $16.2 million sale of 71-73 Church Street & 36 Carpenter Street, Brighton, which was fully-leased and home to global sportswear giant Nike, national footwear retailer Ecco, popular bakery Laurent, and office tenants White Fox and 2 Construct.