Fast food giant KFC will open up two new restaurants in crucial inner-city Melbourne locations.
The Colonel will start slinging his 11 secret herbs and spices fried chicken from a drive-through site at 294 Swan Street, Richmond, as well as at 236 Smith Street in Collingwood following respective leasing deals negotiated by Fitzroys.
The properties were leased to an experienced KFC franchisee on the expansion path.
In Richmond, KFC will be relocating on Swan Street to the ex-Red Rooster site, closer to Church Street, in a 10-year lease secured by Shane Mills and Chris James.
“The drive-through nature of the property and in this location lends itself to more vehicular traffic, while capturing more of the Swan Street buzz that comes from the surrounding Cremorne and Richmond office markets by day and the throngs of revellers and sports and events attendees by night,” Mills said.
“We generated interest from a number of drive-though operators. A big part of the reason the landlord took up the KFC proposal was the confidence in their brand,” he added.
“Fast food tenants are currently a preferred choice for landlords – they’re continuing to perform well through the economic environment and offer excellent security of tenure.”
The Smith Street lease marks the return of the Colonel to the world-renowned lifestyle and hospitality strip. KFC will operate from the former Fonda site, also on a 10-year term.
James, who negotiated the off-market lease, said the 236 Smith Street location is across from Woolworths and is anchored by a multitude of strong afternoon and evening traders.
“Locations on Smith Street don’t come up too often and the franchisee thought this was an excellent chance to set up in a world-renowned location.”
Smith Street in recent years was named Coolest Street in the World by influential publication Time Out1.
Demonstrating the broad hospitality offering on Smith Street and demand from tenants to get into the strip, Fitzroys also leased nearby 291 Smith Street to recently-opened salad specialists Crop. Meanwhile, popular Mexican food chain Guzman y Gomez will also be opening up on Smith Street.
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