The Dog's Bar premises at 54 Acland Street sold post-auction

The popular St Kilda venue Dog's Bar was sold after auction for in excess of $6 million this afternoon.

The iconic venue (pictured below) was passed in at $5.6 million.

The sale of the popular bar, eight strata titled apartments and rooftop terrace was being handled by Pride Real Estate's Tony Pride and Margaret Duncan and Gross Waddell's Andrew Waddell.

The three-storey 54 Acland Street property includes a bar on the lower level and residential apartments above. It’s the first time the whole building has been offered for sale.

A huge crowd attended the auction which started with a bid of $5 million from one of up to four bidders.

After being passed in, negotiations continued inside with the highest bidder, believed to be a local private investor who owns similar iconic properties in the area.

The agents believe the restaurant, wine bar, and outdoor seating areas have the potential to earn about $180,000 in annual rent.

The buying interest was expected from bar and hotel operators as well as investors and developers.

The future of the property is not yet clear following the sale.

It potentially could result in the closing of the venue early next year to make way for a site redevelopment, with the bar is being offered on a short-term lease until then by the vendor and proprietor David Carruthers.

Over the past 15 years the owners had accumulated the strata-titled apartments and lower-level retail components.

The Dog's Bar was opened in 1989.

Fairfax Media had reported the sale might fetch up to $8 million.