South Yarra’s The Emerson nightclub site for sale

The site of ritzy South Yarra nightclub The Emerson has hit the market with price expectations of about $11 million.

Colliers International selling agent Guy Wells says a Singapore-based investor has listed the building at 141-145 Commercial Rd, with ex-North Melbourne teammates Glenn Archer and Leigh Colbert and their business partners to continue running the award-winning bar from it.

The property is being offered for the first time since the night spot opened in 2013, and with a 10-year lease to The Emerson that comes with fixed annual rent increases and two five-year renewal options.

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The new owner will collect a $640,000 starting annual income.

CoreLogic records show the property last changed hands for $4.95 million in 2011.

Leigh Colbert and Glenn Archer with James Brayshaw at The Emerson’s 2013 launch.

But Wells says Archer, Colbert and their business partners paid closer to $6 million for both the building and the business being run from it — Melbourne’s most famous gay club at the time, The Market.

Wells says the group spent “millions of dollars … completely rebuilding” the venue and creating The Emerson.

Another of the co-owners, Mark Hinkley, told the Herald Sun in 2012 that they were creating “something completely different (that) hasn’t been done before in Melbourne”.

Inside the popular night spot.

The Emerson was crowned Nightclub Of The Year at the Australian Bartender Magazine Bar Awards the year after it opened, 2014, and twice more in 2015 and 2017.

The celebrity hotspot’s multiple eating and drinking spots include the VIP Cocktail Bar and Lounge, The Emerson Club and The Emerson Rooftop. The latter offers views of the city skyline.

It has a valuable late-night liquor licence, and capacity for 675 patrons.

The property is set on 530sqm of land and sprawls across 1434sqm of building space.

The rooftop offers CBD views.

The club features multiple drinking and eating spots.

Colliers is marketing the property as being home to “South Yarra’s pre-eminent entertainment venue”.

“Offered for the first time since the venue was established and with the benefit of a new lease agreement, this is your opportunity to acquire a state-of-the-art investment in the ever popular South Yarra precinct,” the online listing says.

Wells says the listing offers an investor a “secure” long-term lease, adding he’s already received interest from potential buyers within days of it hitting the market.

Glenn Archer entertaining former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen at The Emerson. Picture: Ian Currie

Archer notched 311 games for North Melbourne, winning two premierships, a Norm Smith medal, three All-Australian selections and admission into the club’s Team of the Century.

Colbert played 209 AFL games for Geelong and the Roos.

The property’s expressions of interest campaign closes September 5.