Bourke Street Mall icon to sell for first time since 1955
One of Bourke Street Mall’s iconic buildings is up for grabs for the first time in more than 60 years and comes a with price tag in excess of $40 million.
The elegant 1859 property at No. 274-278 has been owned by the same family since 1955 and is leased by crystal merchants Swarovski and shoe retailer Windsor Smith.
Colliers International agent Oliver Hay says just one of the tightly-held 13 freehold Bourke Street Mall sites had changed hands in the past decade.
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“The exclusive offering will be presented to local and international high net worth private investors and family offices seeking an intergenerational investment,” he says.
Fellow agent Matt Stagg says local and international investors are “actively seeking” a position along the famous shopping strip.
“During the past 12 months we have sold six Bourke St properties with a total value of more than $300 million,” he says.
“However, nothing has changed hands within the Bourke Street Mall itself because it is so tightly held.”
Swarovski and Windsor Smith have leases until October 2021 with no further options, giving the buyer “maximum flexibility,” according to Stagg.
He says the property could be re-leased long term or updated, with its Capital City 1 zoning potentially enabling the development of the upper floors and air rights to be explored.
“The building’s stunning facade and under-utilised upper levels make it ideal for the successful purchaser to transform it into the Melbourne CBD’s next multi-level retail icon, comparable to other premium stand-alone retail CBD investments such as Pandora (280 Bourke Street Mall), Zara (284 Bourke Street Mall), Louis Vuitton (139 Collins St) and Chanel (140 Flinders Lane),” Stagg says.
An international expressions of interest campaign closes Friday, June 8 at 3pm.
This article from the Herald Sun first appeared as “Bourke Street Mall icon up for grabs for first time in more than 60 years”.
