Melbourne’s shopping strip market continues its storming run home for 2024, with the home of Brunswick East’s famous The Beast selling within just 21 days of being on the market as Fitzroys generated a knockout offer well ahead the scheduled auction.
Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi, Ervin Niyaz and Ben Liu sold 78-80 Lygon Street to a land banking investor for $3.75 million.
The high-profile property comprises two double-storey shops on one title with a combined building area of 620sqm, encompassing multiple seating zones, bar and commercial kitchen, dance floor, and live music stage. It has a street frontage of 12.26m and is on a landholding of 373sqm.
The property has a 10-year lease with options to the bar, burgers and bands venue.
“This is a quintessential set-and-forget inner-north Melbourne commercial property opportunity, and the purchaser is a local investor who was attracted to the lease profile and the underlying land value,” Niyaz said.
“The market recognised this as an investment in pole position of Lygon Street, Brunswick East, one of Melbourne’s famous buzzing nightlife and lifestyle strips, with a secure lease to a strong-performing, long-standing tenant with a proven track record, as well as a generous land size for this type of asset.
“There’s clearly some really good market confidence for well-positioned, well-leased assets with credible operators at the moment.”
The renowned Brunswick East food and beverage precinct was recently declared by influential global publication Time Out as one of the “Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World”.
Nearby are renowned pizzeria 400 Gradi, Lebanese eateries Téta Mona and Mama Manoush, and popular bars including Old Palm Liquor, The Alderman, Eydie’s, and Maggie’s Snacks & Liquor - among many more.
Kombi said, “Ongoing residential growth in the area has boosted trade and led to minimal vacancies. This also served to create a competitive tension in the auction campaign, which saw a knockout bid offered just 21 days after the property came to market.”
According to Fitzroys' new Walk the Strip report, Lygon Street, Brunswick East has a low vacancy of just 3.7%.
“The surging location has in recent years seen a number of residential towers completed in the proximity, and the precinct is set to benefit from yet further planned high-density residential development in the area,” Kombi said.
Liu said the growth of Brunswick East had been driven by more Melburnians embracing flexible working arrangements in the post-pandemic period, looking to work closer to home in highly-accessible locations with quality hospitality and lifestyle amenity.
The location also offers excellent connectivity and exposure with trams 1 and 6 stopping directly outside the property and 22,000 cars passing by daily.
Recently, Fitzroys sold 98-100 Lygon Street, home to Maggie’s Snacks & Liquor, for $3.38 million, on a 4.7% yield, The agency also recently sold 113 Lygon Street, Brunswick East for $1.3 million, on a 4.5% net yield following another successful auction campaign.