‘The Saint’ for sale as St Kilda rises up

St Kilda’s century-old St Hotel has hit the market in an attempt to capitalise on the suburb’s “renaissance”.

But this doesn’t mean last drinks for the “iconic hotel” known as The Saint, which has operated since 1915 — its three-storey site at 54 Fitzroy St is being sold with a five-year lease to the watering hole in place.

Colliers International selling agent Guy Wells, who has the listing with Ted Dwyer and Rob Joyes, says the lease kicked off in April last year and generates almost $500,000 in income annually.

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The vendor, who purchased the pub about eight years ago, has since spent several million dollars redeveloping it.

The hotel has been redeveloped by its current owner.

Wells says the business reopened in 2015 as a “state-of-the-art entertainment venue and pub” with capacity for 430 patrons and a valuable late-night liquor license.

Its 503sqm corner block is just down the road from the Gatwick Hotel, which is being transformed into luxury apartments by Channel 9 reno show The Block.

The Saint is just doors down from The Block’s latest project, The Gatwick.

Wells says this highly publicised redevelopment, along with the announcement of Australia’s first Pride Centre for Fitzroy St, will benefit The Saint by helping restore the strip as “one of Melbourne’s true destinations”.

He says St Kilda’s “renaissance” is also being helped along by Sand Hill Road’s revamp of landmark hotel The Espy, the $40 million redevelopment of Junction Oval, and the $550 million apartment development of the Novotel Hotel site on the Esplanade.

Inside The Saint in St Kilda.

The Saint site will further be enhanced as an investment opportunity by the installation of a digital signboard on the rooftop, which is expected to yield an extra yearly income of $80,000.

There’s also potential to add additional storeys to the building to create luxury apartments or a hospitality space, according to Colliers.

The pub sprawls over three levels and has capacity for 430 people.

Colliers would not provide a price guide for the property, which is being sold via an expressions of interest campaign closing August 29.

Recent hotel transactions in St Kilda include the $13.2 million sale of The Espy in May 2017 and the $7.5 million sale of the site of the former Greyhound Hotel on Brighton Rd in March.

This article from The Herald Sun originally appeared as “St Hotel, aka ‘The Saint’, graces market in resurrected St Kilda”.