Site of ‘Melbourne's finest brothel' hits market
The property at 81 Rokeby St was purpose-built as a brothel in 1997.
Core Commercial Real Estate's Anthony D'Ambros said the brothel's founder had operated at the address for decades, later with assistance from her daughter.
Vic pubs hitting the market amid 'cost of doing business crisis'
She has since sold the business to a new owner who has taken out a 20-year lease on the site where Le Boudoir – which bills itself as 'Melbourne's most exclusive boutique style bordello' and 'Melbourne's finest brothel' – is based.
The building's freehold is now on the market via expressions of interest.
'The place is beautiful, it has a bathroom in each room and they are beautiful bathrooms,' Mr D'Ambros said.
Apart from the six bedrooms and bathrooms, the premises features separate ladies' and gentlemen's lounges, a ladies' powder room, kitchen and laundry facilities.
The tenant pays $182,500 per year in rent plus GST and outgoings.
Mr D'Ambros said the 108sq m site was located near Smith St's residential, hospitality and retail offerings, meaning it could be of interest to developers.
'You're surrounded by seven-storey-plus buildings, if it were to change tomorrow and be empty land, it would have development potential,' he added.
'I understand you could build up to 10 storeys there, subject to council approval.'
He is also managing a separate marketing campaign for another building leased to a brothel in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
The double-storey site at 3 Fleet St, Somerton, counts Studio Honeys as its longstanding tenant.
Set on a 896sq m block, it features in-room spas, an introduction room, reception area, staff dressing rooms, a break area, kitchen, laundry and office, plus 16 car spaces.
The address is for sale with $1.8m-$2m price hopes, while the tenant pays a yearly $130,000 in rent including GST.
Mr D'Ambros said that mostly investors have been contacting him about the two properties.
'For Collingwood I am getting a lot of interstate calls and it has been more local calls for Somerton,' he said.
'They have both been good tenants and it is the world's oldest profession.'
He noted that buildings where licensed brothels were based could often make for good 'set and forget' investments which returned a 6 to 7 per cent yield to their owners.
And both listings have been popular online.
'The amount of online hits I've had is crazy, about 80,000 for each one since they've been on the market,' Mr D'Ambros said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Inflation data sends ASX to near all-time high on Wednesday
Banks, property and supermarket shares drove the ASX to a near record high on Wednesday after quarterly inflation all but confirmed an interest-rate cut when the Reserve Bank of Australia board meets in August. The benchmark ASX 200 jumped 51.80 points or 0.60 per cent to 8,756.40, with the market lifting after 11.30am on the CPI data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The broader All Ordinaries also traded higher up 48.70 points or 0.54 per cent to 9,015.40. Australia's dollar slid on the news down 0.05 per cent to US 65.09 cents. Six of the 11 sectors finished in the green. The ASX 200 jumped on the back of quarterly inflation data. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire Shares related to a rate cut jumped on the news. Gains were led by the major banks with bourse heavyweight CBA up 1.55 per cent to $176.99, NAB gained 0.71 per cent to $38.47, Westpac jumped 1.60 per cent to $33.72 and ANZ closed 1.25 per cent higher to $30.70. Woolworths Group added 1.58 per cent to $31.44, Coles jumped 1.72 per cent to $20.65 and Endeavour Group is up 1.23 per cent to $4.12. Stockland shares jumped 2.21 per cent to $5.55, Charter Hall Group gained 1.76 per cent to $20.21 and Mirvac Group gained 2.73 per cent to $2.26. Betashare chief economist David Bassanese said near enough was good enough for a rate cut as trimmed mean inflation fell to 2.7 per cent for the 12 months until June. 'Underlying inflation is inching closer to the middle of the RBA's 2 to 3 per cent target band and so justifies a further easing in what – in the RBA's own words – a still 'modestly restrictive' level of interest rates,' he said. Six of the 11 sectors gained on Wednesday. Photo: Gaye Gerard / NewsWire Josh Gilbert, market analyst for eToro, described it as hard for the RBA to hold rates. 'After the surprise pause in July, today's data means an August rate cut is all but nailed on,' he said. 'Markets are now pricing a 93 per cent chance of a cut, and it's easy to see why. Cost-of-living pressures are easing, and the risk is now skewed towards holding rates too high for too long.' In company news, Rio Tinto half-yearly earnings fell to a five-year low on the back of weaker iron ore prices throughout the previous six months. The major iron ore exporter told the market its underlying profits came in at $US4.8bn for the first six months until June 30, which is down from $US5.75bn ($8.83bn) last year Interim dividends fall to $US1.48 a share versus $1.77 a year ago Embattled casino operator Star Entertainment used its quarterly update to announce the sale of its Queen's Wharf precinct in Brisbane was 'unlikely' to go through by Thursday's deadline. But it also pointed to an improving cash position with Star having $234m in cash and $269m in cash equivalents, as of June 30, up from $44m at the end of March. Shares in Star Entertainment Group slumped 4.35 per cent to $0.11 following the announcement. Pointsbet shares rallied a further 4.2 per cent to $1.25 after rival wagering business Betr upped its takeover offer. Read related topics: ASX
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Rio Tinto names Simon Trott as new CEO amid $11.5bn half-year profit
The Australian Business Network However, Stausholm, who hands over the business to his iron ore boss Simon Trott in coming weeks, says it's something bigger than that. 'We've been getting back the mojo,' Stausholm tells The Australian. When he steps down on August 24, the Rio boss wants to be remembered for the impact he had on cultural change and especially for rebuilding bridges after the external shock of the Juukan Gorge cave scandal. The lead up to the Juukan destruction represented a period where the miner had lost its way. 'We were on our knees,' he says. Then, the miner was increasingly run out of London, and the core of Rio's once-powerful operational managers were being sidelined. The structure of the business was a mess that hadn't been tackled, leading to complex shareholdings across some of its most important operations, like the giant copper mine in Mongolia. There's still a way to go, but Stausholm confronted some of Rio's darker cultural demons and spent much of his tenure presenting a miner who was serious about working with rather than against its partners. Stausholm, who has had top executive roles with Shell and Maersk before Rio, says the lesson is that once you get the right culture in place, this becomes the foundation to build out an entire business. 'You actually then start seeing better operational performance, better execution of projects, and for the financial community, suddenly you have a business that actually grows – consistently profitable growth,' he says. His comments came as Rio delivered first half underlying earnings of $US11.5bn ($17.7bn), this was down 5 per cent on softer iron ore prices, but slightly ahead of market expectations. However, the dividend of $US1.48 a share fell short of expectations. This weighed on the miners shares in London. Rebalancing Significantly, increased production and higher earnings from the in-demand copper and bauxite helped offset a 13 per cent drop in iron ore prices. Rio's cashflow was mostly flat at $US6.9bn. While the contributions move around on commodities prices, Rio's copper and aluminium businesses are now star performers, representing around 20 per cent of the company's cashflow each. Previously it was closer to 10 per cent. Iron ore still dominates at 55 per cent of cashflows. Earnings from aluminium jumped 50 per cent thanks to higher volumes and prices. Rio also disclosed it was hit with a $US321m tariff cost, thanks to Donald Trump, but tariffs are starting to become a net positive for the miner, given the jump in copper prices. 'When you look at other miners, basically none of them are growing, and we are growing (production). We've said long term, the next 10 years, we can grow 3 per cent a year, but the reality is, we grew 6 per cent in the first half, 13 per cent in this in the second quarter'. We're really unlocking growth here, right now, and that's just comes from these underlying things – you get it right with the people, and we are already blessed with amazing assets'. 'You have not seen the best yet'. Still, Stausholm's tenure was cut short by his board. Just weeks after the annual meeting in May, the miner announced Stausholm's sudden retirement and launched a search for his successor. Two weeks ago, Trott, an Australian, was named his successor. Stausholm's high cost growth agenda, including near $10bn bet on lithium and expanding aluminium, is thought to have sat uncomfortably with the board. Since May, Stausholm has declined to discuss his looming exit except to say he is 'very happy' the board has backed an internal successor. However, he defended broader criticism around costs. 'There were a lot of things that needed to be rebuilt,' particularly around relations with traditional landowners, he said. Rio's productivity improvement program, the Safe Operating System, has been a major investment underway for four years and this is now behind the rising volumes coming out of existing mines and downstream operations like aluminium. But the trick in any company is to balance the rising costs that come with growth, he concedes. Under Trott, the challenge for Rio will be around the execution of the slate of development projects it has in front of it. Like rival BHP, it's now moving into a period of increased capital spending of between $US10-11bn over the medium term on projects like Simandou iron ore in Guinea; expanding the Pilbara; building out aluminium capacity; and the battery minerals bets that include the acquisition of lithium major Arcadium and the development of the Rincon project in Argentina. In recent years Rio has been spending around $US6-7bn a year on capex. There was nothing in the recent results to suggest that Rio would be on a different track. Stausholm has a high conviction in the projects ahead of Rio, with the company now in a place where it is executing well. Nor is he phased on the current malaise in lithium prices, 'It doesn't really matter, to be quite frank, for us, because what matters for us is what is the lithium prize five years from now. What we're trying to be is countercyclical and think long term'. This is now all on Trott to deliver. Read related topics: Rio Tinto Eric Johnston Associate Editor Eric Johnston is an associate editor of The Australian. He has more than 25 years experience as a finance journalist, including a former business editor of The Australian. He has been business editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and financial services editor with The Australian Financial Review. His work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
AFL 2025: West Coast CEO confirms interest in priority pick, confident on Harley Reid future
West Coast has begun discussions with the AFL about receiving a priority draft pick at season's end while confident it will keep wunderkind Harley Reid. The Eagles are starring down a fourth season in the bottom two and successive wooden spoon with just one win. West Coast CEO Don Pyke revealed he had reached out after being forced into an 'unfortunate situation'. 'Look, we've had some initial discussions with the AFL around that,' Pyke told SEN. 'Looking at the unfortunate situation we find ourselves and looking at our numbers, whether it be games won, quarters won and percentage over the last five years, we find ourselves right in the position where other clubs who've recently received assistance. 'Looking at them, we're well and truly in the window for that. So, we'll have those discussions and we'll look to proceed with some sort of request. 'As disappointing as it is, we are where we are. With the draft is as compromised as it's been, we feel like we can benefit from some assistance to get ourselves out of where we've been over the last four years.' Harley Reid of the Eagles in action during the round 20 AFL match between Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/) In positive news for the Eagles, they appear set to sign Reid on a monster extension. The 20-year-old has reportedly been tabled a two-year extension at West Coast with a trigger that could net him upwards of $24 million over 11 seasons. He suffered a syndesmosis injury during last weekend's loss to Fremantle and will not pull on the West Coast jumper again in 2025. Reid remains on his draftee contract through to 2026 but has been in ramped up extension talks in recent weeks. Pyke understood the hysteria around Reid's future but was confident the polarising young star would re-sign. 'Yeah, we are (confident he'll be here in 2026),' Pyke said. 'He's contracted here until next year, and we'd love to be able to get something done, and if we can't, we'll have to maybe park it and pick it up later on. 'Obviously, it's going to continue to be a talking point until the decision is made one way or another. 'But he's enjoying his time here, he's really engaged with the group, I think Andrew (McQualter) has said that a few times. 'He's very much now part of the group and wants to see us get back to where we want to be, which is not where we are at the moment.'
