Scullerymade Owners Reap Melbourne Property Windfall

In its first outing on the market in more than 30 years, a four-storey commercial office block in Melbourne’s prized Queen Victoria Market precinct has sold for 43 per cent above reserve. 

A private Melbourne property investor has splashed $11.9 million to acquire 144-148 A’Beckett Street from former cooking institution Scullerymade owners Susie Hawes and Howard Gibbons. 

The pair had bought the site as an investment in 1991 for $785,000, and listed their Scullerymade High Street store at Malvern for sale earlier this year after closing the doors on the business last year. 

The corner building has triple street frontage on a 288sq m block in the heart of Melbourne and has Capital City 1 Zoning, which could enable a broad variety of development uses of the site.

Cushman and Wakefield’s Oliver Hay, Anthony Kirwan, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma alongside MMJ Real Estate’s Joel Wald negotiated the sale.

▲ City of Melbourne chose Lendlease as the preferred developer to deliver the $1.7-billion urban renewal project near the A'Beckett Street property.

Hay said the property had attracted domestic buyers as well as investors from China and Malaysia. 

MMJ Real Estate’s Joel Wald described the auction event as a “pivotal moment” in the city’s property market. 

“As this iconic building embarks on a new chapter under the stewardship of its local private investor, the legacy of the private Melbourne-based family who held it for over 31 years will endure, contributing to the city’s rich architectural heritage,” Wald said. 

The building is near the new State Library train station, which is part of the $11-billion Metro Tunnel project scheduled for completion in 2025.

It is also close to the Queen Victoria Market and the $1.7-billion Lendlease Gurrowa project on a 3.2ha site bordered by Franklin, Queen and Peel streets—the largest urban renewal project undertaken by the City of Melbourne.