Nineteenth-century corner grocery store in Woollahra sells for $1.55 million
An 1886 Jersey Road, Woollahra shop has been sold for $1.55 million to homeware importers Patrick and Marion Horgan.
It had previously traded at $1.63 million in 2007 through Christies International, after which it became the Arabella boutique children's store. Its earlier restoration was undertaken by the interior designer Leslie Walford, the fellow of the Design Institute of Australia.
Built as a single-storey corner store, the building had been untouched for decades before Walford bought it for $260,000 in 1991 and restored and extended it as his showroom and offices.
The site had been the Crowther's corner grocery store. It had previously sold for £1500 in 1951. Set at the corner of Jersey Road and Holdsworth Street, the distinctive building has an elegant ground-floor showroom, two first-floor offices, a heritage bathroom, kitchenette and attic storage. The timber premises, that sit on a 70-square-metre block, were marketed by as suitable for a hair/beauty salon, medical, professional offices, or retail and showroom usage.
Arabella Boutique, Australia’s only store to stock Paris-based Bonpoint apparel, has relocated to Transvaal Avenue, Double Bay since the sale.
The recent Jersey Road sale was through Eddie Levy at Metro Commercial, whose agency has by coincidence listed the Transvaal Avenue premises in conjunction with Colliers International with a $7.5 million asking price. The boutique Double Bay retail and commercial building has 813 square metres of space on its 422-square-metre block. There is approval for increased floorspace and strata potential. It has a $557,000 plus income on fully leased basis, according to Metro listing agent Allan Levy.
