Notorious Les Bubbles building for sale with history all over its walls

The heritage-listed Les Bubbles building at 144 Wickham Street is being taken to the market by Knight Frank with an Offers to Purchase campaign

Hints of the shady 80s when it was a notorious brothel, bath house and illegal casino are all over its walls, but the historic Les Bubbles building is today a Brisbane landmark and up for grabs.

Built in the 1920s, the heritage-listed building was named in the Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission’s Fitzgerald Report as the site of an illegal casino on the upper floor, and a brothel called Bubbles Bathhouse on the ground floor. Today it’s for sale via an Offer to Purchase campaign run by Knight Frank.

The restaurant has embraced the building’s past.

History all over its walls.

Rather than hide its colourful history, Les Bubbles – “a Parisian Steakhouse” – embraced the building’s past with cheeky hints part of the decor today in the iconic restaurant which has been the main tenant at 144 Wickham Terrace since 1982.

“While the card decks and kerb servers are all but gone, the building’s colourful history remains pinned to every wall,” is how the restaurant owners put it.

Knight Frank agent Christian Sandstrom – who’s taking the property to market via an offers to purchase campaign on behalf of its developer owners Shaun and Sam Juniper of the Sunshine Coast – said the building was iconic.

“Everyone in Brisbane knows this building – not only is it situated on a major Fortitude Valley thoroughfare, but it is engrained in Fortitude Valley history and growth over the past 100 years.”

The ‘Parisian steakhouse’ Les Bubbles is a landmark in Fortitude Valley.

The heritage-listed building is in the hub of the bustling valley scene.

“Coming up for the sale for the first time in four years, it offers a rare investment opportunity in a prime location within the heart of Fortitude Valley, with easy access to surrounding business, transport, retail and entertainment amenity.

“The asset is primed to benefit from the continuous transformation of the Fortitude Valley precinct, with projects including the Valley Metro redevelopment and Cross River Rail.”

Interestingly, given the massive demand for commercial space across inner Brisbane, Mr Sandstrom sees the property potentially attracting owner occupiers looking to secure a footprint in the heart of an Olympic city.

The building has a WALE of 1.05 years.

“There is the opportunity for an incoming investor purchaser to reconfigure tenancies, but we also expect interest from owner occupiers, with the property’s unique layout well-suited to a partial owner occupier.”

The building’s total net lettable area is 543sq m on a 238sq m block – Les Bubbles occupies 362sq m, with Bodycare Therapy Centre on 181sq m.

Mr Sandstrom said the property had a WALE (weighted average lease expiry) of 1.05 years, with Les Bubbles restaurant currently on a four-year lease, with two five-year options.

The Offers to Purchase campaign will close 4pm Thursday, December 1.

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