Coffee retailer Workshop Brothers signs Collins Street lease

Coffee retailer Workshop Brothers will open its second Melbourne CBD store, this one on Collins Street.

They have signed a seven-year lease for an 18sqm hole-in-the-wall at 410 Collins Street, is opposite the Mitre Tavern.

The space was previously used as  China Construction Bank’s storage facility.

Tan Thach from CBRE’s  negotiated at $60,000 per annum and said Workshop Brothers were looking for trendy locations to branch out from flagship stores and increase their brand presence.

“Switch Board Cafe occupies a switchboard cupboard in the Manchester Unity building, Saluministi has secured a former car park ticket office on Flinders Lane and Black Velvet Espresso is operating its business tucked on the side of the136 Exhibition Street foyer," he said.

"There were still many cafe operators looking for miniature spaces in the tightly held Melbourne CBD retail market that provide an attractive price point for tenants, yet offer a higher rate per square metre for landlords.

“Due to the low vacancy rate and high demand from retailers in recent years, landlords are being creative with their properties, transforming unexpected locations into useable retail spaces,” Mr Thach said.

Josh Rutman, CBRE’s director of city sales said with yields currently sitting at record lows, slight increases in income can have a wide-ranging impact on capital values. In this instance the increase could be over $1 million in value.