Moonee Ponds’ ‘Underbelly’ milk bar cherry ripe for new use
It would be a true crime not to look at this decrepit Moonee Ponds milk bar.
Once featuring in hit Aussie drama Underbelly, the three-frontage property at 55 Bent St needs more than a shot in the arm.
With three bedrooms and a showroom, it is expected to sell for $800,000.
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Nelson Alexander Essendon agent Barry Hamond says it is one of a few Moonee Ponds milk bars that have virtually disappeared.
“It is a really run down shopfront with all the windows taken out,” Hamond says.
The milk bar has seen better days since it was used in the Australian mini-series ‘Underbelly’.
“I would hate to think anyone with a table could rock up and start a shop straight away.
“It’s not a case like that but the facade is quite cute and it has a lot of potential.”
The house includes a lounge room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and laundry.
There are endless possibilities in the showroom.
The shop with exposed brick walls and a concrete floor has been left vacant for many years.
Fading Bushells Tea and instant coffee ads still feature on the facade.
Hamond says the family who owns the property used to live at the back of the shop.
A kitchen Cherry Ripe for renovation.
“I think it’s falling all around them at the moment,” Hamond says.
“The vendors want to sell and buy something that’s low maintenance.”
“They are attached to the shop but they haven’t done anything to it for many years.”
Hamond says the property will go great guns as a renovated cafe.
The property has right of way access to a double carport.
“We’ve received a range of responses over the last week,” Hamond says.
“They include renovating the property as a private residence, turning it into a florist shop and pulling the place down to build units.
“It is all subject to council approval but it has quite a wide appeal.”
The property last sold for $28,000 in June 1980 according to CoreLogic data.
This article from Leader Newspapers originally appeared as “Disappearance of Moonee Valley milk bars the underbelly of this conversion dream”.
