$8m tipped for Ball & Chain building

The Hobart real estate agency selling the substantial Ball & Chain building is expecting in excess of $8 million for the heritage-listed complex.

Last year, the building that is home to Salamanca’s Irish Murphy’s was sold at auction for $7.8 million.

Knight Frank chief executive Scott Newton described buying property in Salamanca Place as a once-in-a-decade opportunity.

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“To have two buildings like this hit the market within a year of one another is unique,” Newton says.

“They are a similar size and we are expecting a comparable price of about $8 million plus.”

Located at the silos end of Salamanca Place, the Ball & Chain building was constructed by convicts in the 1830s using huge sandstone blocks.

An aerial view of the Ball & Chain building being offered for sale at 85-87 Salamanca Place.

Today it is home to the long-running and very successful steak restaurant plus four luxury apartments.

The restaurant operators have an existing lease agreement in place with options into the future.

The property is strata titled and its floor area is over 1100sqm.

This building is heritage listed as a place of “archaeological sensitivity” and of “cultural significance” on the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme.

Newton says the current level of activity in the Hobart commercial real estate market is unprecedented.

He says national and international investment was robust.

Inside one of the Ball & Chain building’s luxury apartments.

“In 30 years working in real estate, I would say the current appetite of Hobart’s commercial sector is the strongest it has been,” he says.

Throughout Greater Hobart there are a number of high end commercial properties listed for sale including the Conservatoriumof Music site, Trustee House in Murray St, the Crescent Hotel in North Hobart and further out of the city the Twelve Stones restaurant at Pontville.

The Ball & Chain at 85-87 Salamanca Place has been offered for sale by expressions of interest closing 5pm, April 27.

This article from The Mercury was originally published as “Ball & Chain building expected to fetch more than $8 million“.