Historic pub and bank sold in latest Abbotsford rush

An owner-occupier has paid more than $3 million for Abbotsford’s former National Bank building, marking the latest in a string of major sales in the inner-city Melbourne suburb.

The building at 261 Victoria St sold at auction for $3.1 million, with buyers attracted to its large, double-storey floorplan and the potential for development on a small parcel of land at the rear of the property.

Built in 1887, the heritage-listed former bank sits on a 616sqm site, has 540sqm of interior space and enjoys 20m of frontage to Victoria St.

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The former National Bank on Victoria St in Abbotsford.

Teska Carson’s Michael Taylor and Fergus Evans brought the property to market, with Taylor saying the building’s variety of potential uses were its biggest drawcard.

“This is a very attractive and presentable commercial building which has been maintained and refurbished over the years and could easily be adapted to suit various uses, whilst the surplus land offers great potential for maximising land use in a very popular fringe suburb,’’ he says.

The former bank includes multiple partitioned office spaces over two levels.

Meanwhile, the nearby Carringbush Hotel – a popular watering hole for Collingwood Football Club supporters – also sold at auction for $2.95 million.

The Langridge St property, a short distance from Collingwood’s former home ground at Victoria Park, was sold with vacant possession, and will reportedly be leased back to the pub’s operator, before the owner embarks on a residential conversion upstairs.

Once known as the the Friendly Society Hotel, the Carringbush was marketed by Colliers International’s Guy Wells. Much of the hotel is in original condition, with the interior a trip down memory lane.

Much of the Carringbush Hotel is in original condition.

The sales are among the latest in a number of major sales in the small, rapidly developing pocket east of Melbourne’s CBD.

In early September the nearby 153-year-old Park Hotel sold to a local buyer for $3.18 million – nearly $1 million above its reserve price.