279-281 Lygon Street, CarltonÂ
Melbourne’s prime shopping strip market has passed its latest test with flying colours, with Fitzroys’ Asian services team sourcing a motivated buyer who snapped up a Lygon Street, Carlton investment well before the auction.
Chris Kombi, Shane Mills and Ben Liu of Fitzroys sold 279-281 Lygon Street, which had been set for auction on Friday, 5 September, in the first time the property had been offered for sale in 53 years.
“Fitzroys’ Asian services team was able to source a highly-motivated private investor purchaser and secure a strong result just a couple of weeks into the campaign,” Mills said.
The two-storey 165sqm building sold for $1.678 million, on a high land rate of $13,115 per sqm and sharp passing yield of 3.45%.
“The purchaser briefed the Fitzroys Asian Services desk with an appetite for a value-add opportunity within the centre of Melbourne’s busy city fringe retail strips. This high-profile property is positioned in a strongly performing section of Lygon Street, Carlton, just metres from the Faraday Street intersection, and offers an expansive frontage of more than 7.5m,” Mills said.
The ground floor is leased to a tobacconist and the first floor was offered vacant.
“The sale shows there is a clear confidence in the market in the prospects of well-located investment opportunities in Melbourne’s shopping strips,” Mills added.
Kombi said, “The market recognised this was a truly generational opportunity to invest in the prime of what is arguably Melbourne’s most famous dining and lifestyle strip,” Kombi said.
“This is a very tightly held part of Melbourne.”
The property is surrounded by a mix of Lygon Street, Carlton’s notable traders including DOC, Brunetti, Fishbowl, Grill’d, Yo-Chi, Mecca, Peter Alexander, Johnny’s Green Room, Vintage Cellars and BWS, to name a few.
Further regeneration of Lygon Street is happening just a few metres away from the 279-281 Lygon Street property at the iconic King & Godfree building, where the deli, wine store, café and restaurant Agostino are under renovation.
The return in earnest of Melburnians dining out has Lygon Street buzzing, and an eclectic wave of new restaurants, eateries and bars have been opening up to complement the strip’s traditional Italian classics. According to Fitzroys’ most recent Walk the Strip report, vacancies on Lygon Street have come down from 20.0% in the depths of COVID to now sit at a healthy 7.5%.
Liu said the student and residential apartment developments in Carlton and nearby will further support trade and activity along the strip.
He added that good accessibility has become an increasingly important predictor of the performance of shopping strips, and is being taken into account by investors.
“Lygon Street has excellent tram and bus connections in addition to plentiful public car park options, including the Elgin Street public car park providing over 200 car spaces. The brand-new Parkville Station, meanwhile, is set to open soon within walking distance from Lygon Street, as part of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project,” he said.
Fitzroys recently managed one of the few other investment sales in 2025 on Lygon Street, Carlton. In another sale 53 years in the making, number 223 was sold with vacant possession for $1.51 million after a campaign the generated interest from investors and owner-occupiers alike.
In October, Fitzroys will be offering 327 Lygon Street, Carlton for sale vis expressions of interest. The freehold opportunity features a renewed five-year lease to Carlton Eye Lab and a residential dwelling upstairs that has separate access.
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