Former Abbotsford car showroom fetches record price

A former car showroom converted to an office has sold under the hammer at a record land rate for a Commercial 2-zoned property in Melbourne's inner-northern suburb of Abbotsford.

Fitzroys’ Chris Kombi and Stuart Kennett sold the 398 Johnston Street property for $3.115 million. Eight parties were bidding and pushed the price to $700,000 above the reserve.

The price reflected a sharp yield of 3.1% and a record land rate of $7,710 per square metre.

The dual-fronted site of 404 square metres includes a refurbished building of 320 square metres, leased to building maintenance cloud solutions group Uptick on a 4 x 4 year deal returning $98,880 per annum plus outgoings and GST.

Kennett said the depth of the enquiry, which saw more than 120 enquiries received, and the outstanding result reflected a very hot market in this pocket of the inner city.

“The population of Melbourne’s inner-north is still booming as medium and high-density inner-city living are embraced in growing numbers, underpinning the viability of businesses in the area as opportunities to acquire sites of this potential become increasingly rare,” he said.

“The property was very well received by the wider market of investors, developers and owner occupiers with the versatility of the property and prospect of future capital growth driving the strong demand.”

Kennett and Kombi sold the property on behalf of a private investor.