St Kilda's Prince of Wales sold to Chinese buyer
The Chinese developer, Jiyuan “Louis” Li, has secured the Prince of Wales hotel at St Kilda.
Architects EAT's iconic Prince of Wales Hotel was listed by the syndicate headed by the van Haandel family, who revitalised the formerly decrepit hotel.
John van Haandel, with his brother, Frank, paid $4.3 million in 1995 for the freehold property before Frank later exited his stake.
The classic corner pub comes with frontages to Fitzroy and Acland streets.
It is a four level freehold building providing 5,802 square metres space, along with a multi-storey car park.
There are leases to seven retailers and venue operators. The net income is $2.3 million.
The agents suggest there is immediate development potential with approved plans and permits for four additional levels of 60 apartments with plans done by architects Woods Marsh.
The sale of the freehold was tipped to fetch well over $25 million, according to industry sources, but fetched around $45 million according to both Fairfax Media and The Australian.
The site, with its various businesses, including Circa restaurant, has been leased to Melbourne Pub Group (MPG) since 2011. Prince Bandroom is one of Melbourne's most prominent live venues, previously hosting acts such as Lenny Kravitz, Jack Johnson, Scissor Sisters, Pink and Coldplay.
It was bought by Pub Li City Pty Ltd, a company registered to Chinese-born national Jiyuan Louis Li, with two other shareholders, Jie Li and Wenxiu Zhao.