Melbourne Cat Cafe site owner makes $1.85m in four years

Cashed up investors had one Melbourne CBD vendor purring after selling a laneway building for nearly $1 million above initial price expectations.

Having fielded interest “in the low $3 millions”, 30 Guildford Lane sold for $4.4 million under the hammer in August, $600,000 after being declared on the market.

The vendor bought the two-level site just four years ago for $2.55 million, netting a payday of $1.85 million for the savvy seller.

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“That’s some pretty incredible capital growth,” CBRE agent Alex Brierley says.

The cat cafe is the first of its kind in Melbourne.

Patrons pay to have their coffee surrounded by furry friends.

“To sell for a first grade price in a secondary laneway — it’s just a lack of stock in the market. We’re dealing with a lot of investors who are cashed up and looking in the CBD.”

The site contains Australia’s first Cat Cafe, where patrons pay to pat and play with rescue cats.

The cafe will continue its lease in the building.

Two main bidders competed from $3.8-$4.4 million for the property, which had an opening bid of $2.6 million, with a local investor issuing the final bid.

“We saw a mix of both investors and office occupiers competing for the asset,” Brierley says

The property was declared on the market at $3.8 million.

“There’re aggressive local buyers in the market — even for us agents, we’re constantly surprised by some of the results.”

“There is cheap debt and people are happy to pay prices to secure well located properties in the CBD.”

Brierley says spring is starting to see more commercial listings on offer.

This article from the Herald Sun originally appeared as “Melbourne Cat Cafe: laneway building makes vendor $1.85m in four years”.