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An Art Deco St Kilda hotel with a place in the history of Melbourne’s live music scene has come to market.
Melbourne-based hospitality business Jackalope Group is putting up the freehold to the Prince of Wales hotel in the Melbourne bayside suburb.
It paid $45 million for the hotel in 2015.
It has just undergone a refurbishment and has a long-term lease with the Melbourne Pub Group.
The Ryan family own the Melbourne Pub Group which also owns and operates Mitchelton Estate and Hubert Estate in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.
On the corner of Acland and Fitzroy streets, the hotel has a street bar, dining room, 39 hotel rooms, bakery and retail outlet, wine store and function space with an indoor pool and multi-level carpark.
It also has a band room that’s hosted performances from a huge range of acts for six decades.
The first Prince of Wales was built at the turn of the 20th century and was demolished in 1936 to be rebuilt in its current form in 1937.
Hotel designer Robert H. McIntyre designed the building, which was briefly used as the headquarters for the US military during World War II.
In the punk renaissance of the 1970s, bands including Birthday Party and Nick Cave performed and hung out at the pub, while its reputation as a live venue ramped up in the 1980s and 1990s with such acts as Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, You Am I, Silverchair, Lenny Kravitz and even Prince all gracing the stage,
More recently, acts to play the Prince of Wales have included Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, G-Flip and Glass Animals.
An expressions-of-interest campaign managed by CBRE’s Scott Callow and Nathan Mufale will close on September 27, 2023.
Speculation is that the hotel will fetch north of $50 million.
Callow has managed the past two transactions for the property.
“It’s a unique offering which we’re expecting will attract trophy investors looking for something quite special to add to their portfolio,” Callow said.
Mufale said that there were opportunities to do more with the property thanks to its location.
“The offering provides a multitude of value-add opportunities with the ability to capitalise on 360-degree views across to Port Phillip Bay and the Melbourne skyline.”
Developers have focused on St Kilda with many opting for adaptive reuse of existing buildings to take advantage of the coastal location, existing community, amenities and the main strip.
