In brief: Deciem lays Chapel St foundation

Canadian cosmetics brand Deciem will become one of the first new international retailers to take up residence on Melbourne’s Chapel St in the last three years, after signing a five-year lease.

Deciem has leased a 200sqm shop at 513 Chapel St in South Yarra for $230,000 per annum, in a deal negotiated by Colliers International’s Ben Tremellen and Cam Taranto.

Tremellen says the lease is further evidence of cosmetic retailers expanding their reach and footprint by securing space in prime locations.

“Deciem is one of the first international brands to secure space on Chapel St since West Elm opened its Melbourne flagship store in 2013,” he says.

“There has been a significant decline in local fashion operations securing new sites within the last 12 months, which has allowed beauty retailers to lead the charge in competing for these flagship locations.”

Winds of change roll through historic Trinity Bar

Surry Hills institution Trinity Bar will be sold for the first time in almost two decades after longtime owner Ray Reilly announced he was pulling up stumps.

Reilly assumed ownership of the Crown St hotel in 1998 and will now sell it via an expressions of interest campaign that closes on May 12.

The Trinity Bar in Sydney is up for grabs for the first time since 1998.

CBRE Hotels’ Daniel Dragicevich and Ben McDonald are steering the campaign, with Dragecevich saying he expects investors to flock to the prime corner site.

“Opportunities to acquire inner city freehold hotels of this calibre are becoming increasingly rare as hoteliers compete with buyers from various other segments for prime properties,” he says.

“The Trinity Bar definitely fits into this profile and with various well publicised groups focusing on acquiring venues with diversified business mixes in recent times, we expect significant interest.”

Betros Bros call time on fruit and veg dynasty

A Toowoomba fruit market 78 years in the making is on the hunt for a new operator.

The Betros family has put its portfolio of properties on the market, along with their Betros Bros fruit and vegetable wholesale business, almost eight decades after opening its doors.

The properties include the 3026sqm Russell St retail store and 3160sqm Annand St wholesale warehouse in Toowoomba, as well as a 3931sqm combined retail and wholesale store on the corner of Drayton and Condamine streets in Dalby.

The Betros family’s business and properties are on the market in Toowoomba.

Ray White Commercial has been appointed to sell the property, with Toowoomba sales and leasing agent Peter Marks saying the sites also “offer opportunities for redevelopment”.

In a statement, the Betros family says the sale of the properties and business is not expected to affect the company’s 140 employees.

“To continue the business’s growth and prosperity, the owners wish to explore all options available,” the statement says.

Metro punches ticket on Collins St

Melbourne’s rail operator Metro has grabbed another 2500sqm of office space at its Collins St headquarters.

The company added level 14 at 700 Collins St to the 7500sqm of space it already occupies on levels 15 to 17, in a new lease that will see it remain at the Cromwell Property Group-owned building until at least 2025.

Edward Knowles and Tony Landrigan from Colliers International negotiated the deal.

Metro has leased another floor at 700 Collins St in Melbourne.

Knowles says Metro’s lease leaves just two vacant floors at the CBD site, which are expected to be snapped up in the coming months.

“This new lease will see Metro occupy around 10,000sqm in total at 700 Collins on two aligned, long term leases,” he says.

“We have shortlisted five major occupiers (for the remaining two floors), each of whom is looking at between 2500 to 5000sqm of space over one or two floors. We expect to lease these floors up very quickly.”

Sweet deal for Swedes

Swedish engineering firm Sandvik will shift its base from Dandenong after signing a five-year lease at an industrial complex in Mulgrave.

The company, which is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of equipment for mining and drilling, will pay about $100,000 a year for 400sqm of office space an 120sqm of warehousing at the site on Gilda Court in Melbourne’s south-east.

Sandvik is set to move into this Mulgrave industrial facility.

Savills Linton Williams and associate director Daniel Kelly brokered the deal with the building’s Melbourne-based owner.