Roche family lists Rundle Mall property after Encounter Bay sale

The Roche family is offloading one of the most recognisable buildings in Rundle Mall following close to 80 years of ownership.

The Rundle Mall property has been owned by the Roche family for close to 80 years. Picture: Supplied by Knight Frank

The Roche family is offloading one of the most recognisable buildings in Rundle Mall following close to 80 years of ownership.

The 1860s heritage-listed building, at the eastern end of the mall, has previously been home to Boost Juice, Bailey Nelson and Silk Laser Clinics, but is being offered to the market with vacant possession.

Located on a 478sq m site with more than 15m of frontage to the mall, the 813sq m building is currently set up as three adjoining tenancies with a basement area.

Knight Frank’s Max Frohlich described it as a “flagship placemaking opportunity”.

“This trophy asset stands at the epicentre of a thriving shopping, dining and cultural hub,” he said.

“It offers the incoming purchaser a generational buying opportunity and the ability to reinvigorate an iconic Adelaide landmark enriched in history.

The Roche family recently sold a development site at Encounter Bay for $28.2m.

“With no tenure restrictions, an incoming buyer has the ability to unlock inherent development upside and capitalise on the property’s prestigious location.

“The zoning has no prescribed height limit, so not only is there the potential for ground (or multi-floor) retail activation value enhancement initiatives, but there is also significant flexibility to deliver a mixed-use development of scale above.”

Mr Frohlich said Rundle Mall currently had the lowest vacancy rate of any of Australia’s pedestrianised malls at around 3.4 per cent, and attracted 55 million visitors each year, making it the “busiest shopping precinct in Australia by foot traffic”.

Expressions of interest close at 4pm on June 26.

Wealthy Adelaide families including the Shahin, Angelopoulos and Polites families dominate ownership of the retail properties lining Rundle Mall, which rarely change hands.

The last recorded transaction was the $7m sale of the General Pants Co. site at the western end of the mall to the Weinert family in July 2023. The Weinerts, who took over a portfolio of Rundle Mall sites from Funds SA in the late 1990s, retains several properties along the strip including Rundle Mall Plaza – the home of Swedish retail giant H&M.

The sale campaign for the Roche family’s Rundle Mall building follows its recent disposal of a 33.3ha landholding at Encounter Bay.

US-backed land lease operator Hometown Australia picked up the site on the corner of Waitpinga and Tabernacle roads for $28.2m.

Originally published as Roche family lists Rundle Mall property after Encounter Bay sale