Fast cars and motoring memorabilia: MCG rebuilder’s man cave for sale

Capital gain

The man cave, or warehouse, where the late businessman David Jones kept his treasure trove of motoring memorabilia is up for sale just a short hook from the MCG stadium where he oversaw redevelopment in the 2000s.

Jones, who died in February, led the MCC from 2003-2007 and oversaw the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s massive building program.

A handout image from inside the man cave of the late David Jones at 116 Green Street, Cremorne.Credit:

He had a long and storied business career – he was executive chairman of gaming outfit Tattersalls – and had a string of letters and awards after his name: AO, OBE and KStJ (Knight of the Order of St John).

One of his other passions, fast cars, was kept close to the MCG in his man cave at 116 Green Street Cremorne. The 290-square-metre warehouse is now up for sale, sadly vacant, with the 1972 Ferrari 246 GT Dino Coupe, a 1955 MG 1500 Roadster, a prized 6-666 number plate – issued in 1913 – and a host of other auto memorabilia sold separately via Donington Auctions.

The exterior of 116 Green Street, Cremorne. Credit:

The man cave goes to auction on July 3 through Colliers agents Ben Baines and Matt Knox and Teska Carson’s Matthew Feld and Michael Taylor. It is expected to fetch more than $2 million.

Omni present

A group of investors, including Omni Property Group owner and boxing promoter Brian Amatruda, is selling one of the last office buildings left on St Kilda’s beachfront boulevard, The Esplanade.

The two-storey 980 sq m office at No.24, opposite Luna Park and the Palais, is down the road from Saint Moritz and the Esplanade Hotel.

24 The Esplanade, St Kilda

Its level-one boardroom boasts a half-pipe skateboard ramp which would make for interesting meetings. Once Oakley Sunglasses’ head office, the office was most recently tenanted by cannabis distributor Releaf.

Savills agents Linc Reynolds and Tim Grant are selling the property and expecting around $10 million. “This is not an everyday building – it’s so iconic,” Reynolds said.

Looking out from 24 The Esplanade.

The building occupies the entire 748 sq m site and has a flexible General Residential zoning, suggesting it may not be an office for long.

The Mill

Geelong’s entrepreneurial Hamilton Group has snapped up The Mill on the Barwon River in Newtown.

The historic mill at 403 Pakington Street is in the artsy precinct along the river on a large 29,280 sq m site.

A handout image of 403 Pakington Street, Newtown.Credit:

Records show Cameron Hamilton put a caveat over the title late last month.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Oliver Hay, Hamish Burgess, Joe Kairouz and Leon Ma ran the expressions of interest campaign and were expecting more than $30 million for the property. They declined to comment on the buyer or the price, but local sources suggest it was close to the asking price.

The property came with planning approval for a mixed-use development with 314 apartments and 29 townhouses. The Hamilton Group has a solid track record restoring historic properties in Geelong.

Strata office

Post election, city-based owner-occupiers are back in the market for their little piece of the CBD.

Recent deals include the office of retired criminal lawyer Bernie “the Attorney” Ballmer, on level 4 of 116-120 Hardware Street.

A wealthy individual is understood to have paid $1.53 million for the 222 sq m penthouse office and will move out of the blue-chip office complex at 333 Collins Street.

Cushman & Wakefield agents Anthony Kirwan and Jack Cooper handled the campaign and declined to comment on the buyer’s identity. Records show Ballmer paid $605,000 for the space in 2005.

The team, including George Davies, also sold a 358 sq m penthouse office at levels 14-15 at 50 Market Street for $3 million – representing a rate of $8380 a sq m.

The new owner is a migration agent already leasing space on Collins Street, Davies said. They have sold 10 offices worth around $20 million in the past six weeks, with 80 per cent of the buyers, owner-occupiers, he said.

That figure will be tested next month when an office on level 7/343 Little Collins Street goes to auction.

The 168 sq m office is leased to a private college and has a 9B permit allowing for educational use. The price is expected to be around $1.1 million – a bumper yield of around 8 per cent based on the rent of $89,198 a year. Cooper and Kirwan are handling the auction.

Meanwhile, there are two vacant offices up for sale in the mid-century modern Mering House at 278 Collins Street.

Kirwan is quoting around $2.75 million for the 336 sq m office on level 3, which last changed hands in 2018 for $2.5 million.

Mering House at 278 Collins Street.

Upstairs, the vacant level six is also for sale but for around $3.2 million through CBRE agents Alex Brierley, Nathan Mufale and Jing Jun Heng. It was sold in 2018 for $2.85 million.

Strip retail

Three shops in the inner north found keen buyers at auction last week. The old Commonwealth Bank branch at 209-211 Smith Street, now leased by furniture retailer Tait, sold for $6.5 million on a sharp 3.8 per cent yield.

Records show Sydney businessman Richard Munao, founder of the Cult design group, has put a caveat over the property. A nice little bargain – it sold in 2015 for $7.1 million.

209-211 Smith Street, Fitzroy

Stonebridge agents Rorey James, Nic Hage and Ian Lam handled the sale, which attracted eight bidders.

On Brunswick Street, they also engineered the sale of the freehold leased to the China Bar at 325 Brunswick Street for $2.9 million on a yield of 6.72 per cent. It fetched $1.86 million in 2007.

The price reflected a land rate of $16,384 per sq m, the highest land rate achieved for Brunswick Street in over a decade, James said.

A handout image of the China Bar at 325 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.Credit:

The buyer, an interstate South Australian investor, was one of the underbidders of Stonebridge’s third deal, the Coburg NAB branch at 406-408 Sydney Road.

The bank sold under the hammer for $2.71 million, a yield of 4.98 per cent with bidding from six parties.

It had been owned by the same family for decades and the buyer was sourced from Stonebridge’s Asia Practice team.

The bank sold under the hammer for $2.71 million, a yield of 4.98 per cent with bidding from six parties.

Finally sold

A long-held property on Hoddle Street, close to the entrance of the Eastern Freeway, has finally sold after two years on the market.

The Commercial 2-zoned site at 294-296 Hoddle Street is on 1864 sq m and was pitched as a potential development site worth $15 million.

However, the cement works between the showroom, leased to Bathroom Direct, and the railway line, made that proposition tricky.

294 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford.

The area between busy Hoddle Street and the railway is full of low-rise showrooms and industrial buildings.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Leon Ma, Daniel Wolman, Raphael Favas and Oliver Hay ran the campaign. The price is understood to be close to the original quote, but they declined to comment.

Records show it has sold to an Asian-backed investor as a long-term land banking play.

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