Melbourne inner-city pubs continue to bubble

Popular inner-city pubs continue to be a source of major interest in the Melbourne market, with a number of well-known watering holes hoping to find new owners before Christmas.

The building that is home to Richmond institution Public House remains on the market, having been listed for sale earlier this year.

With a recently renewed lease to the pub’s operators, a prime Church St position and a loyal following amongst local clientele, the venue presents as an enticing proposition.

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Richmond’s Public House’s outdoor beer garden.

In a listing on realcommercial.com.au, TCI Property Consultants agent Jack Teneketzis describes the building as “an exceptional land bank, investment and add-value opportunity on the iconic Church Street lifestyle strip,” adding that there is scope to extend the property further.

“There is asset and rent growth potential with proposed extensive building works including an additional level and rooftop terrace,” he says.

Public House features bar areas, as well as dining.

Other pubs nearby are also expected to be highly sought-after as they are put up for grabs for the first time in years.

Buoyed by the sale of the nearby Park Hotel for $3.18 million in September – nearly $1 million above its reserve price – the owners of Abbotsford’s Carringbush Hotel have quickly followed suit and placed the historic asset on the market.

Built in the late 1800s as the Langridge Family Hotel, rebuilt and renamed the Friendly Societies Hotel in 1889 and then finally renamed the Carringbush in 1984, the pub has been a popular haunt among Collingwood Football Club supporters for decades, with the club’s former home ground Victoria Park just minutes away.

The Carringbush Hotel in Abbotsford.

Offered with vacant possession, the hotel has an asking price in the mid-$2 million range, according to Colliers International’s Guy Wells, who is marketing the property in conjunction with Mark Durnan from Advanced Hospitality Brokers,

“Well known in the area as a popular meeting point and function venue for Collingwood Football Club supporters, the Carringbush Hotel has a rich history on the Abbotsford pub scene,” Wells says.

“Offered to market for the first time in over two decades, the property and business is being sold as a freehold going concern to allow an incoming purchaser flexibility over the asset.”

Little has changed in the bar area at the Carringbush Hotel.

Wells says the pub, which sits on 385sqm of prime land, attracted interest from potential buyers even before it was put on the market.

“We have been approached by a number of parties over recent months about the hotel, with enquiries from tenants, owner-operators and investors, and even a residential buyer,”

“The hotel benefits from plans for the redevelopment of the first floor that includes updated ensuite accommodation rooms. While the vendors were considering the opportunity to refit the first floor, the decision has been made to divest with this unique hotel.”

The Carringbush Hotel will be auctioned on-site on November 30 at 12pm.