Melbourne Live Music Venue ‘The Palace’ For Sale

Property Observer has reported that iconic Melbourne live venue The Palace is currently up for sale via an international public tender and is expected to attract offers of approximately $15 million by the time the public tender closes on July 27, 2012.

The 100-year-old building, which originally operated as a cinema before changing into the Metro nightclub and then finally becoming The Palace, has been listed by receivers Ferrier Hodgson after property owner Jerry Pilarinos’ company Kefi Nominees was forced into administration by Bankwest.

Although some early interest has come from parties interested in maintaining The Palace as a venue for live music, the building has also generated quite a buzz from international investors, with speculation that the best use of the property would be converting the site into a high-density residential project.

CBRE sales agents Scott Callow, Josh Rutman and Mark Wizel will exclusively market The Palace via the aforementioned international public tender. When speaking about possible buyers, Wizel said the property has caught the attention of numerous Asian developers.

“Sites of this size at the top end of Bourke Street are not readily available for acquisition and, as a result, we are anticipating strong interest from local and overseas buyers, with a particularly high level of inquiry expected from Singaporean, Malaysian and mainland Chinese developers”, Wizel said.

Receiver and Ferrier Hodgson partner George Georges also points out the significant interest in the landmark property.

“The Metro is well known as part of the fabric of life in central Melbourne”, Georges said.

“It’s a brilliantly located site with a huge variety of optional uses and tremendous potential for development”, he said.

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