Pandora leases on Bourke Street Mall with $1 million deal

Danish jewellery retailer Pandora has leased an entire building on Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall in probably the biggest retail leasing deal in the Melbourne CBD so far this year.

The deal for 280-282 Bourke Street Mall was worth nearly $1 million in annual rent. The Pandora deal highlighted the trend of retailers looking to build a strong retail network in the CBD with the company already having a shop nearby on Little Collins Street and a third store within a three block radius.

Pandora will replace US retailer Nine West at the building. The fashion retailer Zara is the neighbour.

Pandora has leased the building in a seven-year deal. However, the retailer will use only the 90 square metre ground floor space for retail, implying that the effective retail rent rate is more than $11,000 per sqm, according to The Australian Financial Review.

The remaining floors of the five-level building will be utilised for storage or other non-retail uses. The building has been owned by the Snowden family since 2004.

The deal was brokered by CBRE who advised there were no vacancies on Bourke Street Mall, which is home to flagship department stores for Myer, David Jones and H&M.