Capital Gain
The last ties between football star Dustin “Dusty” Martin and his disgraced former manager Ralph Carr are starting to unravel following this week’s sale of a building they jointly owned in Melbourne’s “Little Saigon”, the Victoria Street dining strip in Abbotsford.
But the rupture came at a price for Dusty, a Richmond club playing legend. It’s understood the deal did not meet the original $2.3 million to $2.5 million price range.
An investor scored the double-storey corner property at 297 Victoria Street which is leased to Vietnamese steakhouse Tungthit.
Martin and Carr spent more than $15 million on commercial property over the past decade as the footballer’s prowess grew, including warehouses in Butler Street, Richmond.
This was not the first time Martin had tried to unwind the relationship. A bid in 2024 to sell a string of shops at 401-407 Victoria Street did not yield a sale.
Last month, Carr was found guilty of raping his 23-year-old personal assistant in 2023, but his identity was only revealed recently after a near three-year suppression order covering the case was lifted.
Last week, Martin and their joint business partner Chris Bissiotis cut ties with the entertainment manager who is no longer a director of the companies which jointly own the properties.
The Abbotsford restaurant has three years remaining on its lease and pays $150,818 a year in rent.
The 360-square-metre building is on a 243-square-metre block on the corner of Charles Street, near North Richmond railway station. It cost the pair $1.9 million in 2019.
Teska Carson’s Larry Takis, Brendan Fu and Rory Teska-Szer handled the sale but declined to comment on the nitty-gritty details.
Leo’s lament
The Blake family, who owned the much lamented Leo’s continental supermarket chain, is poised for a fresh payday after listing two sites in the Mont Albert Village shopping strip and an empty block in Heidelberg.
The freeholds of three supermarkets in Kew, Glen Iris and Heidelberg, owned by the late Leo Blake and his wife Rose, have so far yielded more than $100 million which makes the value of latest sites look relatively paltry.
Two properties at 343-345 and 363-369 Mont Albert Road, alongside the railway line, individually cover 1426 square metres and 1196 square metres and are expected to sell for $6 million apiece.
The two sites, bought in 2011-2012, are divided by an L-shaped treed council carpark.
It would have been a prime spot for a new supermarket. The charming Mont Albert Village has only a tiny Foodworks supermarket but is lucky enough to still have a butcher and a greengrocer.
The third property up for sale is around the corner from the Heidelberg Leo’s at 68-70 Hawdown Street and a house at 64 Yarra Street.
Records show the Hawdon Street properties were bought in 1999 for a bargain-basement price of $250,000 from a company controlled by the rich-lister Valmorbida family.
The house on the corner at 64 Yarra Street sold in 2015 for a market price of $1.76 million.
The entire 2258-square-metre site is expected to fetch in the mid-$5 million range.
In a direct deal with Coles, the Blakes sold the Glen Iris supermarket at 2 Summerhill Road for $33.25 million. There is already a shiny new Coles in operation there.
Mario Lo Guidice’s Banco Group paid $20 million for the supermarket at 133 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg. It’s understood Lo Guidice is hoping to put a new retailer in the property but there’s no news yet for locals missing their continental supermarket.
The Kew property, at 26 Princes Street, has not yet settled but is rumoured to have fetched $52 million.
The high-profile buyers, Orchard Piper and James Packer’s NPACT, are currently in a fight with the City of Boroondara about how high their residential buildings can tower over Kew Junction.
LAWD’s Lukas Bryns, who did two of the supermarket deals, and Laura Prendergast have the fresh listings. They declined to comment.
Karaoke hero
The Art Deco building housing nightclub Heroes Karaoke, one of the narrowest properties in the CBD at just under five metres wide, is for sale.
The four-level property at 188 Bourke Street was built in 1937 and owned by the Kitz family until 1970. It was first occupied by discount clothes retailer Rockman’s, which boasted the slogan: “Best for Less”.
Records show the building last changed hands in 2000 for $1.32 million and is expected to fetch more than $6 million now.
There’s a convenience retailer on the ground floor and the entrance to Heroes nightclub which boasts a 3am licence.
Heroes has the basement, levels one and two and the rooftop, and pays $269,716 a year in rent.
CBRE’s Alex Brierly, Nathan Mufale and Jing Jun Heng are running the expressions of interest campaign.
Meanwhile, a sadly empty nightclub at 14-20 Goldie Place is back on the market with a $6 million-plus asking price – significantly less than the $10 million-plus wanted in June 2024.
The Singaporean vendor, who paid $5.45 million for the two warehouses in 2016, didn’t foresee the continued price slump that was already evident in 2024.
The 495-square-metre brick warehouses are on a 269-square-metre piece of land in the coveted heritage precinct near Hardware Lane and come with a 5am liquor licence.
How could you go wrong? This part of town is buzzing morning, noon and night.
Cushman & Wakefield agents Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay, Jack Cooper and Leon Ma have the listing.
Also in the CBD but definitely meeting the market, 19 Somerset Place sold for $2.45 million well ahead of this week’s scheduled auction. The former warehouse for McGills Newsagency was vacant.
Stonebridge agent Dylan Kilner, who sold the two-level property with Max Warren and Iam Lam, said the property attracted interest from buyers but also potential tenants keen to get a foothold in the laneway parallel to Elizabeth Street.
“We got offers from two independent coffee retailers who wanted to rent the building. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kilner said.
Three titles
Boutique local developers Kervale and the Karta Group have snapped up a 1280-square-metre development site on the border of Armadale and East Prahran.
It’s understood the price sold for around its original listing price between $12.5 million to $13 million.
The corner property at 693-699 High Street and 565 Orrong Road includes a house, three shops and a carpark behind the Dulux outlet.
Records indicate three titles sold in 2024 for $10.89 million but didn’t settle until February 2026. It sold unconditionally this week after a short stint on the market.
Cushman & Wakefield agents Hamish Burgess, Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma did the deal but declined to reveal the exact price.
While it didn’t sell with a permit, architect Cera Stribley drew up an eight-level mixed-use scheme including 40 apartments and ground floor commercial space.
“We received multiple offers from both local and interstate groups, with buyers recognising the difficulty of securing a substantial corner site,” Burgess said.
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