Labubu bounces into Pitt Street, still one the world’s most expensive shopping strips

2 hours ago 3

Capital Gain

The Chinese toy phenomenon storming the world, Labubu dolls, is about to open a new Pop Mart store in Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall in a shop formerly occupied by a Microsoft outlet.

Labubu will bounce into the busy Christmas shopping season. Hoardings currently surround its new shopfront as workers fit out the store for a December opening.

The sharp-fanged monster dolls are the major sales driver for owner Pop Mart.

Attracting retailers like the stunningly popular Labubu dolls and the world’s largest Lego certified flagship store has helped Pitt Street Mall retain its status as one of the world’s most expensive retail destinations, according to the latest Cushman & Wakefield’s Main Streets Across the World report.

Rents along the 200-metre strip between King and Market Streets rose 4 per cent over the last year to a per-square-metre rate of about $13,185, ranking it 8th among the world’s top 10 retail streets.

Pitt Street, which scored the same 8th ranking in last year’s report, sits above Seoul’s Myeongdong which comes in at 9th. The Main Streets report says London’s New Bond Street knocked Milan’s Via Montenapoleone out of the top spot as the globe’s most-expensive strip, followed by New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue (between 49th and 60th Streets) in third.

Along with Lego and Pop Mart, Pitt Street Mall hosts other high-profile and high-turnover retailers like Spanish brand Zara, near Market Street, and Swedish fast fashion giant H&M, near King.

Cushman & Wakefield’s head of international research Dominic Brow said Pitt Street Mall was the “jewel in Australia’s retail crown”. Tight vacancy on the strip leads to fierce competition and a spillover of upmarket tenants into adjacent streets like Castlereagh.

Aside from Sydney, the report says Melbourne’s Collins Street kept its 17th place and Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall remains at 25th, both stable year-on-year. Similar high rents and tight supply are pushing tenants to find digs in nearby streets, raising other locations’ profile.

Mintus swoops

In a series of sales totalling $350 million, private investors are showing their appetite for office deals.

The private Mintus group has swooped on 10 Smith Street, Parramatta, after striking a deal with giant fund manager ISPT to take control of the building for $82 million.

Nearly every major commercial asset on the Smith and George Streets block has changed hands over the past 15 years, transforming the location.

The shift began with the $48.3 million sale of 25 Smith Street in 2010, followed by 18 Smith Street which changed hands for $84 million in 2016, the $87.25 million sale of 20 Smith Street in 2022, and most recently, the $50 million sale of the corner block at 75 George Street in 2024.

Mintus’ purchase will add to its other Parramatta asset at 140-150 George Street which it bought from the Dexus Office Partnership for $154 million in 2022.

10 Smith Street is an 11-storey, five-star NABERS-rated A-grade office tower with a net lettable area of 13,368 square metres, along with 165 car spaces for a strong mix of government and corporate tenants.

Colliers’ John McCann and James Mitchell advised on the sale.

Office sale

Boutique investors Titanium Property Investors have raised $32.6 million through the sale of an office tower in the city fringe.

Another private investor snapped up the site at 79 Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills, which is in one of Sydney’s most tightly held fringe markets.

It sits at the doorstep of both the CBD and the Oxford Street cultural, dining and entertainment precinct.

The tower, on 380 square metres of land with 221 sq m of floor space, is 85 per cent leased and sold on a yield of just over 4 per cent. There are multiple value-add strategies to drive tenant amenity and rents in the building, said Knight Frank’s James Aroney and JLL’s Simon Storry, who advised on the sale.

With panache

Panache Hotel Group has marked a major milestone in its expansion, announcing the signing of The Sebel Sydney Chatswood, its first Sydney property.

Panache Hotel Group has taken over management of The Sebel Sydney Chatswood.

Under the deal, Panache will assume management of the apartment hotel, strengthening its partnership with Accor and adding another renowned brand to the group’s growing portfolio alongside Peppers Docklands Melbourne and Mantra on Hay Perth.

External hotel management is a fast-growing addition to the sector as it alleviates the back-of-house costs for the hotel’s operator and makes for a more efficient, centralised platform.

“Sydney has always been key to our growth story,” said Wilson Bao, chief executive of Panache Hotel Group.

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