36 Church Street and 128 Church Street, Brighton
Two Fitzroys auction sales in the space of a week totalling $5.775 million on Melbourne’s premier shopping strip have delivered benchmark results for the retail property market.
Just seven days after Fitzroys’ Mark Talbot, Tom Fisher and Ben Liu sold 36 Church Street, Brighton under the hammer for $4.010 million – with the sale price reflecting a very sharp 3.9% yield – Talbot and Fisher sold 128 Church Street for $1.765 million, well beyond the reserve, and on a net yield of just 3.6%.
On 200sqm of land, 128 Church Street was offered with a lease until March 2029, to popular local business Foxy Nails which has been in occupation for the past 20 years.
The campaign generated 70 enquiries from a mix of investors and potential owner-occupiers, culminating in a hotly contested auction between four parties.
A Brighton local who will hold the property as an investment is the new owner.
“The buyer was fully aware of the calibre of the tenant, the potential to renegotiate the lease down the track, the value-add potential of the site, and the dynamics of what is widely regarded as Melbourne’s premier shopping strip,” Talbot said.
“Church Street, Brighton historically boasts very limited vacancies given its seat within one of Melbourne’s most affluent and established catchments, and roll call of high-end boutiques, national traders, supermarkets, and popular cafés and eateries.”
“These create strong trading conditions for tenants in the strip, and there’s always a long queue of businesses constantly jostling for a position.”
Church Street, Brighton is consistently a top performer amongst Melbourne’s shopping strips, according to Fitzroys’ Walk the Strip report series, most recently recording a vacancy rate of just 1.4%.
The attractive price level drew a number of buyers, given offerings in Church Street, Brighton are often in the order of around $4 million and above, he added.
He said, “Despite uncertainly in the residential market and changes to tax laws, investment in prime commercial property is not deterred.
“Both of these Fitzroys sales resulted in sub-4% yields, which is an outstanding result given bank deposit rates.
At 36 Church Street, Brighton, fierce competition from three bidders ultimately saw an investor sourced from the Fitzroys Asian Services database win out for the high-profile two-level building, with ground-floor retail space leased to international eyewear and optometry retailer Bailey Nelson, and separate first-floor accommodation and office areas.
“We received more than 60 enquiries from qualified local, national and offshore investors who were all attracted to the blue-chip status of Church Street, Brighton, the rarity of the offering, and the strong tenancy profile in a head office lease to a highly successful global operator,” Talbot said.
“There is evidently strong demand locally, nationally and offshore for well-located, well-leased Melbourne strip retail assets, and investors are actively pursuing quality opportunities,” Talbot said.
Fisher noted that Church Street, Brighton is close to first-class education providers including Brighton Grammar, Firbank, and St Leonard’s, which attract huge numbers of families to the area, helping to underpin ongoing strong housing demand. Brighton is also home to popular lifestyle options, including Brighton Beach, Dendy Park, Wilson Reserve, Billilla Homestead and more.
Brighton’s median house price was a very high $3.18 million as of July 2026, according to realestate.com.au[1], reflecting the location’s high spending power.
Fisher added that the location is very accessible, with the adjacent Dendy Plaza shopping centre including excellent car parking in addition to public parking, and Middle Brighton train station and buses are close by.
[1] https://www.realestate.com.au/vic/brighton-3186/
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