Capital Gain
Melbourne’s biggest brothel, the California Club, is on the market looking for both a new freehold owner and operator.
It’s only the second time in more than 40 years that the brothel – now a designated sex service premises – has gone on the market.
The pleasure palace, at 30 St Kilda Road, uphill from the junction, has 18 rooms designed to accommodate a range of tastes and interests.
The current owner’s recently deceased partner was the manager for many years and now they are not keen doing the job solo, California Club spokesman William Albon said.
Interested parties are advised to call the California Club directly, Albon said. The likely price for the property and business is between $5.5 million and $6.5 million.
The freehold of another long-running brothel, the Candy Club, is also changing hands for around $2 million, but with a lease in place to the current operator.
Sutherland Farrelly agents Grant and Paul Sutherland, acting for the mortgagee, declined to comment on the price or buyer.
Trash is treasure
The days are numbered for one of the city’s few trash and treasure markets – itself now the priciest item up for sale. The 3.41 hectare super-site in Thomastown also has a super price and is likely to fetch around $22 million.
The land at 26 Wood Street and 261-273 Settlement Road was the Reservoir Village Drive-In in 1964, entertaining up to 700 cars at a time.
The trash and treasure market took over a few years later, ushering in a near 60-year era of selling thrift seekers junk, jam doughnuts and vintage tools.
The site’s recent inclusion as a state significant industrial area has paved the way for a new commercial lease on life. However, it is zoned Commercial 2 giving it a multitude of potential uses.
Closing time won’t arrive too quickly. The market still has a short-term lease. Gray Johnson’s Matt Hoath and CBRE’s Daniel Eramo have the listing.
Little pets
The Petstock outlet in Prahran will soon be dog meat after it was bought by Little Projects.
The property developer is paying $12 million for the 1206 square metre site at 476-478 High Street, close to the Williams Road intersection, in an off-market deal.
It was on the market about 18 months ago, along with a portfolio of Petstock outlets around the country, but did not sell.
The deal reflected a tight yield of 2.16 per cent – a sure indicator of its future as a development site.
Records show a joint venture between Perth-based Ascot Capital and Linfox director David Fox bought the property in 2022 for $10.2 million.
CBRE agents Darren Beehag, Justin Kramersh and David Napoleone negotiated the transaction with Colliers agents Ben Baines and Alex Browne acting for the purchaser.
The lease to Petstock contains a termination clause, which is lucky because the dog-food retailer, which is owned by Woolworths, has a 10-year lease until 2032. It pays $217,350 a year in rent.
Fire station sale
The state government is flogging off more assets, putting a group of ageing and vacant fire stations and land on the market.
The portfolio of nine, mostly suburban, properties is expected to fetch around $20 million in total. They range from vacant land – a 2478 square metre carpark at 23-29 Dean Street, Moonee Ponds – to a former station at 88 Boundary Road, Sunshine West on 5080 square metres.
Gross Waddell’s Danny Clark, Nick Meadows and Glenn Ye are running the campaign via a mixture of auctions and tenders.
Two bidders
The Toorak Village renaissance continues with two bidders vying for two shops at 456-460 Toorak Road, pushing the price to $4.55 million and a skinny yield of 1.5 per cent.
The two shops were sold by the Blatt family who had held them for 50 years.
Fitzroys agents Mark Talbot and Lewis Waddell handled the auction which started with a $3.9 million bid.
Both leases have an expiry date of late 2027, giving the new owner plenty of options.
In Brighton, two shops at 99-101 Church Street sold after auction for a price believed to be around $7.5 million.
Despite passing in at $7.4 million, there were four bidders for the shops on the tightly held strip and the deal reflected a 3.5 per cent yield.
Gross Waddell ICR agents Glenn Ye, Danny Clark and Michael Gross ran the campaign.
The next blue-chip property on the market is the CBA bank branch at 333 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn.
The 1747 square metre building includes three retail spaces, including the bank branch, six commercial suites and six rooftop apartments.
Built in the 2000s, it returns $782,000 a year in rent and is on a 1014 square metre parcel of land.
It sits between two supermarkets: a new Coles under construction at 259-281 Whitehorse Road and the Woolies across the street which sold for $45 million in 2021. The Dan Murphys up the road fetched more than $11 million in 2024.
Stonebridge agents Nic Hage, Rorey James, Ian Lam and Chao Zhang have the listing.
Supermarkets
Speaking of supermarkets, Berwick Marketplace, which is anchored by a Woolies supermarket and a BWS bottleshop is up for sale.
Records show it last changed hands in 2000 for $12.85 million when Woolworths’ development arm Fabcot sold it to a private family investor.
The 4647 square metre centre is on 6528 square metres of land at 6-8 Lyall Road, with four extra shops, and returns $1.62 million in rent.
Woolies has a 10-year lease with options.
Ryder Commercial’s George Harris and Mark Ryder and Savills’ Steven Lerche and Stephen Bolton have the listing and are expecting in the high $20 million price range.
In the north-west, a supermarket anchored by new operator Fresco, at the Hillside Shopping Centre, is for sale.
The 1340 square metre supermarket is expected to fetch around $4 million, reflecting a 6 per cent yield. It returns $241,605 a year in rent.
CBRE’s Alex Brierley and Scott Hawthorne, with Biggin & Scott Commercial’s Stan Sidiropoulos, are running expressions of interest.
Back on the market is the Aldi in West Melbourne which last changed hands in 2023 for $14.41 million.
MPG Funds Management bought the 1595 square metre supermarket at 512 Spencer Street, which is at the foot of a new apartment building.
Colliers’ Tim McIntosh and Will Heffernan are running the campaign and looking for more than $15 million.
Meanwhile, a Woolies Metro and BWS at 358 Orrong Road sold for $8.7 million on a 6 per cent yield.
CBRE’s Darren Beehag and Justin Kramersh sold the 1042 square metre centre which had a long 17.5-year lease.
The IGA at 62-64 Main Street, Upwey, sold before auction last month for $3.91 million, to an international buyer.
The supermarket, which had two offices upstairs returned a total $241,945 a year in rent, giving the deal a 6.18 per cent yield.
CBRE’s David Napoleone and Sam Mercuri did the deal, with Greville Pabst acting as transaction advisor.
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