Kozminsky closure to ignite Bourke St retail interest

The closure of Melbourne jewellery institution Kozminsky last week after 166 years is expected to spark hot competition for its Bourke St premises.

Kozminsky, which opened on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth streets in 1851 and more recently occupied 421 Bourke St for more than 40 years, closed its doors a week ago after current owners the Albrecht family decided their time was up.

The well-known site at the corner of McKillop St is now up for lease, offering a prime location on the famed retail strip.

Vacancies scarce: No room to move in Melbourne’s CBD retail scene

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Colliers International’s Cam Taranto and Jarrod Herscu are managing the leasing campaign for the property with Herscu saying the building has history to rival Kozminsky, having been built 147 years ago.

“This elegant building has a long association with the livestock and real estate industry in Melbourne’s early days and the banking boom in its later days,” Herscu says.

The former Kozminsky jewellery shop sits on the corner of Bourke and McKillop streets in Melbourne’s CBD.

“It now rings the successful association of Kozminsky, who operated in the building for more than 40 years.”

“Colliers International is extremely excited to run this unique leasing campaign to determine the highest and best use for a retail building with a storyline dating back to 1869.”

The offering comes amid a severe lack of retail vacancies in Melbourne’s CBD, with realcommercial.com.au on Thursday reporting there are less than 40 vacancies among the precinct’s 1181 shops.

The scarcity of vacancies comes despite almost 50 new shops opening in the CBD last year.

According to Savills, the vacancy rate in the CBD now sits at 3.3%, well below the five-year average of 5.2%.