Capital gain
Chinatown was buzzing on Thursday with a crowd of 200 people turning out for an auction where two bidders pushed the sale price of Chun Wazi Dumpling House up to $6.11 million.
“The CBD is back,” declared auctioneer Paul Tzamalis after the 40-minute contest.
The property at 172-176 Little Bourke Street sold 12 per cent higher than its $5.5 million reserve, reflecting a super-sharp yield of 3.31 per cent. The lower the investment yield, the more valuable the property.
The result delighted the applauding crowd, who had come to take the temperature of the city property market during a cold lunchtime break.
The Louey family, who sold the property, paid the equivalent of $92,000 for the double-storey restaurant, near the corner of Russell Street, in 1964. The 321 square-metres building is on a 175 square metre parcel of land.
The dumpling restaurant pays $202,362 in rent on a five-year lease which started in June 2025 and has a five-year option.
Fitzroys’ most recent Walking the Street report indicates Chinatown has the lowest vacancy rate in the CBD at only 1.1 per cent. Just eight Chinatown properties have sold in the past 13 years, which made this auction compelling theatre for the property sector.
Savills agents Nick Peden and Tom O’Halloran handled the transaction.
The next CBD auction on the calendar is a vacant warehouse at 19 Somerset Place, which was once used for storage by historic CBD retailer McGills Newsagency.
The two-storey building is expected to fetch close to $3 million when it goes to auction next month.
Records show the vendor, Romulus Investments, paid $780,000 for the 220 square metre building back in 2002.
McGills occupied the double-storey shop on the other side of the lane, at 187-193 Elizabeth Street, until it closed in 2009.
Apparently, the Melbourne Science Fiction Club held its meetings on the top floor through the 1960s and hosted a national convention there in 1966.
Thee building has had a string of tenants since McGills closed after nearly 150 years of trading – most recently Blue Doors Coffee. It’s going to auction through Stonebridge’s Dylan Kilner and Max Warren.
Elsewhere in the CBD, the basement at Druids House opposite RMIT University sold for $1.31 million, reflecting a yield of 5.93 per cent
Records show the vendors had paid $232,500 in 1997. CBRE agents Alex Brierley, Nathan Mufale and Jing Jun Heng did the deal.
And an owner-occupier has paid $1.608 million for the 242-square-metre basement at 415 Bourke Street.
The property will be in a prime position when Cbus Property’s new tower, on the corner of Queen Street, is completed. Savills’ Tim Grant and Tom O’Halloran handled the transaction on behalf of Advise Transact.
Time and place
Property developer Time & Place has doubled down on its South Melbourne holdings, buying the Kings Way Officeworks store from investor Paul De Lutis.
The property is on 4700 square metres at 231 Kings Way on the corner of Bank Street, around the corner from another Time & Place development site at 11-27 Dorcas Street.
The undisclosed result is understood to be in the vicinity of the original asking price of $16,000 to $17,000 a square metre – that adds up to between $75 million to $80 million.
The Officeworks was one of a portfolio of 38 properties owned by the De Lutis family which was split in a 2017 family feud.
Brothers Colin and Paul De Lutis went to court arguing over how their $500 million property portfolio should be allocated in a break-up of the family business, but settled shortly before a judge made the decision for them.
With their parents Luigi and Anna De Lutis, they’d made a fortune from the Westco jeans company, which they sold in 1999 for $85 million. In 2016, they sold the Bradmill textile site in Yarraville for $118 million.
CBRE’s Nathan Mufale declined to comment on the deal which took more than two years to complete. Officeworks has renewed its lease on a short-term basis.
Time & Place slapped a caveat on the site late last year. The company declined to comment on its plans or the price it paid. Developers have flocked to the South Melbourne precinct around the new Anzac Metro station.
Capital Gain checked the Kings Way property’s title – for about the sixth time – because another Officeworks site is on the market.
It’s an altogether cheaper option which is expected to fetch around $12 million but just as likely to attract the attention of residential developers.
The retailer occupies a large 5163-square-metre site at 1048-1054 Dandenong Road, Carnegie.
Officeworks, the stationary giant owned by Wesfarmers, has leased the 2083 square metre shop since 2009 and has a further five-year option up for grabs when the initial lease expires in October.
The site is next door to two large residential projects and stretches back to the railway line.
Records show it has been owned by another rag trading family, the Harbigs, since 1999. The late Dick and Fella Harbig paid $4.3 million for the property.
The Harbigs made their fortune out of the postwar terry towelling fashion trend. Fella Harbig was later behind the highly successful womenswear business Fella Hamilton.
Savills’ Stephen Bolton and Steven Lerche have the listing.
Bambini
The Bambini Early Learning Centre in Brighton has sold for $4.44 million, reflecting a super-sharp yield of 4.8 per cent.
A Brighton investor snapped up the creche at 75 Wilson Street, which is on 1133 square metres of land, amid strong interest from a range of investors, including offshore parties and locals.
Bambini has operated the childcare centre for 17 years and has a lease, with options, out to 2044.
Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi, Tom Fisher and Ben Liu negotiated the transaction.
At the opposite end of the caring pipeline, a former aged care home has sold for the second time in four years.
The old Baptcare centre at 547 Bell Street, Preston changed hands for $6.5 million after a refurbishment that was completed late last year.
The 48-room centre, on 2637 square metres of land, last sold in 2022 for $5.5 million. Extensive renovations turned some of those single rooms into suites with high-end finishes. It is fully certified for NDIS usage in the High Physical Support category.
CBRE agents Sandro Peluso, Marcello Caspani-Muto and Jimmy Tat fielded four offers for the property.
Private hospital
A private investor has snapped up the Sir John Monash Private Hospital in Clayton for $7.65 million, reflecting a yield of 6.3 per cent.
The day hospital, located at suites 15-21 at 212-220 Clayton Road, Clayton, attracted several offers before selling unconditionally.
The 6970-square-metre facility is operated by the Cura Group, a subsidiary of global investment outfit Intermediate Capital Group, which has a lease until 2032 with options.
The purpose-built hospital has two operating theatres and two dental procedure rooms. It’s next door to the Monash Medical Centre.
Colliers agents Lucas Soccio, Ben Baines and Justin Hazell handled the transaction.
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