A landmark building in Melbourne’s inner-west has come to market.
Tenanted by a major supermarket chain, the former Dimmeys Richmond building, now known as Richmond Icon, is the subject of an expressions-of-interest campaign.
The building at 140-160 Swan Street has been a long-standing feature of Melbourne’s urban landscape and its prominent clock tower dates to 1907.
Industry sources are tipping a sale price of more than $30 million.
Dimmeys, a discount department store chain, closed the Richmond store in 2012 after the site was bought by private investor Joel Freeman’s Richmond Icon, which paid $16m for it in 2009.
The chain began life as Dimelow and Gaylard’s at Maryborough in regional Victoria in 1853 during the Gold Rush. The business became colloquially known as Dimmeys and in the early 1900s the business name was changed.
It closed its final department store in 2019, ending more 160 years in business that had included locations in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
Redeveloped in 2015, the Richmond asset is home to a purpose-built 3282sq m Coles supermarket and Liquorland.
The sales campaign is being run by JLL’s Stuart Taylor, Tom Noonan and MingXuan Li, and is due to close September 10.
The property is wholly leased to Coles Group on a 20-year term expiring in February of 2035, with two further 10-year options. The current estimated net income is about $1.485 million a year plus GST.
Taylor said the property’s corner position on one of Melbourne’s busiest streets, lease covenant and historical significance made it a compelling investment proposition.
“Everyone knows the Dimmeys clock tower. It’s part of Melbourne’s history,” he said.
“Its high-profile position provides unrivalled exposure, with constant foot and vehicle traffic along Swan Street, 2km from the CBD and on the doorstep of Australia’s sporting and lifestyle mecca,” he said.
Noonan said the surrounding area had undergone a renaissance in recent years and that the Richmond Icon was at the centre of one of the country’s most rapidly transforming and exciting precincts.
“Cremorne and Richmond have seen an influx of capital, new development and both residential and office demand in the past five years,” he said.
“Richmond is one of the most in-demand residential markets, with Cremorne labelled ‘Silicon Yarra’ driven by the wave of creative industries and technology companies that now call the area home.”
Taylor said that “the sheer amount of current and proposed commercial and residential development in the area” would only strengthen the retail demand for the Coles supermarket, “underpinning the future performance of this asset”.
