$508,000 for tiny 13sqm Melbourne CBD shop

The Little Collins St retail space is leased to a newsagency.
The Little Collins St retail space is leased to a newsagency.

If ever there was a shining example of the astronomical prices buyers will pay for retail property on prime capital city streets, this is it.

A local investor has shelled out $508,000 for a pint-sized shop in Melbourne’s Exchange Tower on Little Collins St, and is believed to have set a city record for the price paid per square metre for a strata titled CBD property.

With the shop at T11 & 219, 530 Little Collins St measuring just 13sqm, the sale price adds up to a whopping $39,077 per square metre.

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Despite the high per square metre rate, the deal represented a huge yield of more than 9% for the buyer, with the tenant currently paying annual rent of $47,896.68. The tenant, a newsagency, has a five-year lease that expires in 2020, with an option for a further five years.

The building is inside Melbourne’s Exchange Tower.

The deal was brokered by Teska Carson‘s Gideon Marcus, who says the property’s position made up for its small footprint.

“This was an excellent, high yielding, entry level investment, which accordingly attracted a high level of interest in a market which is still garnering strong support for strip and strata retail,” Marcus says.

The significant point of difference here is the brilliant location at the foot of a building which offers maximum exposure for tenants with the three street frontages providing excellent pedestrian access via Little Collins St, Church St and Union Place.”