Southern Indoor Bowls Club to play final end for $9m

The 50-year home of Caulfield’s Southern Indoor Bowls Club has been rolled onto the market, with expectations it could fetch $9 million.

The well-known property at 348-354 Hawthorn Rd has been a beacon for bowling enthusiasts since 1968, but dwindling numbers have seen the club left with little choice but to put it up for sale, with its final games to be held before a sale is finalised.

Touted as a potential development site, the 2295sqm block is occupied by a three-level building, with two indoor bowling greens divided into 10 rinks.

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Agents say the once popular venue has been rendered redundant by the artificial greens that outdoor club have installed – allowing year-round bowling in all conditions – as well as better technology and drainage systems.

The Southern Indoor Bowls Club has been on Hawthorn Rd in Caulfield since 1968.

In a touching move, the club will distribute the proceeds of the sale to other bowling clubs in the area.

“The combination of a dryer climate, far better drainage systems and the use of synthetic grass means that bowlers can now typically play year round on outdoor bowling greens,” Savills’ Clinton Baxter, who is marketing the property with Nick Peden and Glenn Ye, says.

“With membership dwindling, the Southern Indoor Bowls Club has elected to sell up and distribute the significant funds to local lawn bowling clubs.”

Baxter says developers are likely to come calling for the substantial site.

The property is in a prime position in Caulfield.

“The property occupies a huge site with a 45-metre frontage to Hawthorn Rd, has rear laneway access and is zoned for Commercial 1, providing excellent future development versatility,” Baxter says.

“It represents an outstanding opportunity to develop, owner-occupy or value-add for a wide range of possible uses.”

The property will be sold with vacant possession, aside from a rooftop telecommunications lease. The vendors are also offering a long settlement period.

Expressions of interest close on Wednesday, June 5.