AVC snaps up another Brunswick St bar
Australian Venue Co is boosting its inner north Melbourne presence, taking over the leasehold for Fitzroy’s Bimbo.
Colonial Leisure Group offered the bar and restaurant at 376 Brunswick Street.
JLL Hotels & Hospitality’s Will Connolly said it exchanged in a few days.
Bimbo reopened two years ago following a fire which destroyed the business trading since 2002 as Bimbo Deluxe.
The building previously accommodated live music venue, The Punters Club (that operator took over Northcote’s Commercial Hotel – now known as the Northcote Social Club).
Last week we reported AVC will reopen Brunswick’s 167 year old Sarah Sands Hotel by May.
Bimbo sold in days
Bimbo is next door to Veggie Bar, another high-profile Brunswick St hospitality venue (story continues below).
Mr Connolly said the [Bimbo] business “has long been a genuine Melbourne institution serving up its famous low-cost pizzas to the masses whilst providing late night entertainment to its eclectic mix of patrons”.
The speed in which it sold is an encouraging sign as to the state of the market, according to the executive.
“The leasehold pub market is once again building momentum as operators start to enjoy a sense of certainty,” he added.
“This sale, along with our recent off-market transaction of the Grosvenor Hotel, St Kilda, provides scope for further transaction activity as the year progresses”.
AVC chief executive officer Paul Waterson described Bimbo – with a 3am liquor licence – as a cracking pub.
Elsewhere on Fitzroy’s Brunswick St, the operator controls The Perseverance and The Provincial Hotel.
