Versace Secured For Melbourne’s Collins Street

Collins Street’s T&G building will become home to Australia’s first stand-alone Versace store as the premium Italian retailer looks to expand its Australian presence in Melbourne.

Located at 161 Collins Street, the T&G building is owned by US property group Pembroke Real Estate, which is the real estate division of fund manager Fidelity. Pembroke has been conducting a major refurbishment of the building including the office space and retail area on the ground floor.

Pembroke purchased the T&G Building, one of Collins Street’s best-known properties, for $275 million in 2015. Pembroke signed professional services firm Accenture this year to take nearly 8000sq m on a 10-year lease.

[Related reading: Accenture Secured for Melbourne’s T&G Building]

Once completed, it will have 43,000 square metres of A-grade office space over 10 levels.

Versace will take a 307-square metre shop located between Gucci and Bottega Veneta with prime Collins Street entry.

Versace has a flagship store in Westfield’s Sydney mall and a retail kiosk at Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast. This area of Collins Street features other luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani.

The lease was negotiated on behalf of Pembroke by Zelman Ainsworth, head of Victorian retail leasing at CBRE. Retail rents are understood to have been secured at about 4,000 per square metre.

“Global retailers from services to fast fashion and luxury groups are attracted to Australia as they see this market as untapped and yielding consistent sales results for retailers who have already entered the market,” Ainsworth said.

Read more: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/versace-collins-street-pembroke-tg/