Vermont General Store: Julien Moussi’s renovated milk bar sells for $1.52m
The head of a booming Melbourne venue group has revealed where he plans to set up shop next after he sold a popular corner store.
East
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One of Melbourne’s most successful business owners during Covid-19 is set to revamp another milk bar in the east after he sold a popular Vermont corner cafe.
Julien Moussi’s Vermont General Store, at 37 Centre Rd, was sold by Jones Real Estate to a couple in the outer east for $1.52m on Friday morning, $120,000 above its reserve.
Two other local investors battled it out in the auction with the eventual buyer of the property.
The sale came with a guarantee of Mr Moussi’s Only Hospitality Group remaining a tenant and running the cafe for up to 30 years.
He will also manage the tenants for a two-bedroom residence above the cafe, and the new owners are expected to receive $73,500 in rental income per year.
“We spent a lot of money and a lot of effort on making it look like this,” Mr Moussi said.
“It’s a good result for the property, but most importantly for us, the main thing is the venue and we’re looking forward to focusing on that now.”
Mr Moussi’s group, which operates more than 20 venues around Victoria and the Inglewood coffee roastery, bought another old milk bar site on Marianne Way in Mt Waverley last month.
He said he plans to use the sale of the Vermont building to create a new venue at the Mount Waverley site, with venues at Rosebud and Blairgowrie also opening soon.
“We’re always on the hunt for the dilapidated milk bars to give them the highest and best use,” he said.
“Milk bars are diminishing now so to activate them in the local areas is important for us and good for our business model.”
The buyers told Leader they were genuine fans of the Vermont General Store, which only opened two months ago, and it was their first commercial investment.
“It’s a lovely neighbourhood and building,” they said.
‘We love the area and we want to contribute to the community and keep the cafe here.”
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