Nick Theodossi in $50m deal for Port Melbourne Subaru dealership
Nick Theodossi cleaning his cars at his North Melbourne dealership. Picture: Hamish Blair
Luxury car dealership boss Nick Theodossi is part of a $50m deal to buy out a Port Melbourne Subaru showroom that could soon see him selling cars south of the Yarra.
The off-market deal involving Mr Theodossi teaming up with developer Ross Pelligra took a year, and five lockdowns, to negotiate.
The partnership plans to develop a vacant carpark at the site, but vehicle sales at the showroom either from Mr Theodossi’s Prestige Cars business or other operators are expected to resume within 12 months.
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“We will consider occupying part of the site, or look to capitalise on strong demand from a number of automotive brands seeking premises on the city fringe, which is becoming increasingly more difficult to find,’’ Mr Theodossi said.
His Prestige Cars business currently operates from a North Melbourne showroom and is the city’s biggest dealer in prestige vehicles.
The 99 Lorimer St location is set a short distance from the Yarra River.
Mr Pelligra, who heads development firm Pelligra, said they wanted to “create an innovative project around live, work and play”, with accommodation and jobs for “generations to come” a part of their plans.
Dawkins Occhiuto directors Walter Occhiuto and Andrew Dawkins brokered the sale on behalf of UK-based automotive sales giant Inchcape, who bought the 99 Lorimer St site for $9.2m in 2000.
Mr Dawkins said the sale had spanned five lockdowns.
“It just proves that despite the lockdowns, there is strong sentiment in the market and the result is proof of that ongoing demand,” he said.
The area has had significant development, though a number of additional developments are on hold while the government reassesses earlier planning approvals.
The 99 Lorimer St property, which also fronts Hartley and Boundary streets, is capital city zoned in the Fishermans Bend area and understood to have scope to surpass 10 storeys of development on its carpark component.
The area has been in and out of the headlines after 26 towers approved under Victoria’s last Liberal government were called in for reassessment in 2018.
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