Leasing Highlights

In a retail landscape that is constantly evolving — shaped by changing consumer behaviours, economic cycles and shifting urban dynamics — there are very few streets that consistently outperform expectations while remaining fiercely authentic. Gertrude Street in Fitzroy is one of them.

Victorian seaside towns have always held a strong emotional pull for both locals and visitors. As someone who works closely with businesses navigating growth, brand presence, and commercial strategy and having spent time in Sorrento for a number of summers now, I’ve had time to analyse how retail thrives in this coastal location (currently full retail occupation by the way!) Suburbs like Sorrento demonstrate a particularly resilient form of retail ecology—one that thrives on a balanced mix of uses, seasonal versatility, and strong anchor tenants.

In recent years, the vibrant neighbourhoods of Fitzroy and Collingwood in Melbourne, have witnessed a resurgence of vintage stores. On a recent trip to Newtown in Sydney we saw this trend was not only reshaping the retail landscape but also influencing commercial leasing dynamics.

We love a before and after. Outstanding square metre rates achieved for the lease brokered by our director Katherine Dean, followed by a stunning transformation.

In ear­ly 2023 our direc­tor Richard Miglic bro­kered the leas­ing deal to Chi­a­ki — a cap­ti­vat­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion between Ali­cia Feng, Mo Zhou, and Kan­taro Oka­da. Chi­a­ki serves Japan­ese ochazuke and cof­fee by day and iza­kaya-style dish­es and sake cock­tails by night. This amaz­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion was recent­ly award­ed the Age Good Food Guide Café of the Year 2024.

The Nursery on Brunswick Street, a stunning build-to-rent mixed residential & commercial development designed by the award-winning Clare Cousins Architects.