Harry Oviss retail portfolio hits the market
A portfolio of 15 strip retail investments accrued by late businessman Harry Oviss will be auctioned next month.
The assets – in suburbs including Brunswick, Fairfield and Yarraville – are worth a total of over $22 million.
Some of them have development upside.
The properties are being offloaded by Mr Oviss’ two daughters.
Gross Waddell ICR’s Danny Clark, Michael Gross and Alex Ham are the agents.
Art, jewellery, real estate
The real estate listings come a month since Gibsons sold a $500,000-plus collection of 4000 pieces – art, jewellery, furniture and some 100 walking sticks – accumulated by the Poland born businessman over 70 years.
One item, a boxing glove painted by Andy Warhol, who wore it in a poster for a joint exhibition, carried $5000-plus hopes.
After living in Toorak, then St Kilda Road, Mr Oviss died at a nursing home in January, aged 97.
More than seven decades earlier – at 19 – he established a knitwear shop in the Block Arcade, before retiring to live off his property income; he was also a developer (story continues below).
The property portfolio
The properties on offer include a row of four shops in Station Street, Fairfield, two properties in Yarraville’s Anderson St – at #23 and #42 (pictured, top) – as well as assets in Union St, Ascot Vale, Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe and Errol St, North Melbourne. Three stores are in Montmorency’s Were St.
“In my 30-plus years of real estate I have never seen a portfolio like this being marketed,” Mr Gross said.
“All 15 properties have been strategically purchased by the family over a long period of time,” according to the agent.
They are in the strongest parts of the strips, he added.
The cheapest investment is expected to trade for $850,000 while the priciest should fetch over $4m.
“Given the premium location, building and land size as well as price point…we anticipate high level of enquiry from passive investors, value add [buyers] and land bankers,” Mr Clark said.
“The COVID pandemic has shown people how important high street retail precincts have become,” Mr Ham added. “Not only are they a place to stock up on essential items but they have also become a meeting point for the surrounding communities”.
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