Historic Lygon Street, Carlton, butcher seeking new buyer with juicy $1.5 million-plus hopes

The home of one of Melbourne’s oldest butchers will be auctioned on October 26, the first time the premises will be up for sale in 100 years and a rare opportunity for investor to acquire a retail holding on Carlton's Lygon Street retail strip.

Donati’s Fine Meats at 402 Lygon Street in Carlton (pictured bel0w) has pre-auction expectations in excess of $1.5 million and is only the second retail property up for sale in two years on Lygon Street.

The last commercial building to sell on Lygon Street was the 117-square-metre premises of Intrepid Travel at 231 Lygon Street, which sold in July last year for $1.9 million at a yield of around 3.7%.

The shop at 403 Lygon Street has been run as a butchery since the early 1900s. From its inception until 1954 it was run by the great-grandparents of the current business owner, Leo Donati. In 1954 Davide Baccini in partnership with Modesto Bertocchi (who later created Bertocchi Smallgoods) took over the shop, calling it Extra Meat Supply.

This ran until 1972, when Leo Donati took over the premises and changed its name to Donati’s Fine Meats.

Donati’s celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and is famous for its ox-tails, lamb shanks, veal-and-pork meat loaf and rabbits.

Opera-loving owner Leo Donati has recently signed a new five-year lease, with the shop currently returning a net rental return of $66,656 per annum.

A price of $1.5 million would deliver investors a yield of around 4.5%.

The 76-square-metre property is being marketed by Colliers International agents Jeremy Gruzewski and Tom Noonan.

“The term ‘rare opportunity’ is used quite regularly in our line of business, but the incredibly tightly held nature of this Lygon Street precinct makes this just about as rare an opportunity as you can get in this market,” he says.

“In the last two years, there has only been one commercial property sale on Lygon Street. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a vibrant, popular area that doesn’t come along often.

Gruzewski says the property is in a high-profile location with excellent exposure to passing foot and vehicle traffic.

“This is an opportunity for a purchaser to secure a solid investment with rental upside and a long standing tenant who is keen to stay where they are,” he says.

The property is located on the eastern side of Lygon Street, between Faraday and Elgin streets, approximately two kilometres north of the Melbourne CBD.

The building itself comprises a two-level brick retail building with the ground floor featuring a fully fitted and renovated butcher shop with cool room, storage area and rear access.