Property developer Time & Place has acquired Melbourne’s iconic Hotel Lindrum, a triple-fronted property on Flinders Street that has one of the CBD’s most famous façades.
The hotel was sold with a permit in place for a 30-level mixed-use hotel and residential project and the developer intends to review these plans and has not ruled out the inclusion of an office component.
Time & Place director Tim Price said the Lindrum was one of Melbourne CBD’s most recognised buildings, sitting front row at the eastern end of the city next to one of Sideler’s most cherished building and possibly in the most desirable CBD blocks.
Price continued: “We see real value in the Parliament precinct, being the eastern of the CBD right into East Melbourne.
“The intersection of the sporting precinct, CBD, and East Melbourne’s historical terrace homes makes it a quintessentially Melbourne location and we love being a part of the area’s next iteration.
“Our development philosophy is centred around making places, not properties, so the opportunity to acquire and breathe new life into Hotel Lindrum, which has such a rich history, was one we couldn’t pass up.”
The building was designed by Ward & Carleton in the early 1900s for Griffiths Brothers Tea Merchants, then in the 1920s was transformed into the headquarters for the Herald empire before becoming Lindrum’s billiards centre.
It was converted into a hotel in 1999.
The property forms part of a strategic acquisition phase for Time & Place, across Melbourne, Sydney, and Queensland – in recent years the group has acquired sites in Glen Iris, Camberwell, Alphington, and Alexandria.
Time & Place is currently preparing to bring the Queensbridge building in Southbank to market, in conjunction with Hickory.
The 62-level building, designed by Elenberg Fraser and with interiors by Flack Studio, includes a hotel whose operator is yet to be announced.
The international expressions of interest campaign for Hotel Lindrum was managed by JLL agents Josh Rutman, Peter Harper, Mingxuan Li, and Nick Macfie.
Josh Rutman, JLL Victoria’s head of capital markets, said Hotel Lindrum would become one of the city’s first major revitalisation developments for 2022.
He added: “The depth of interest in such a high-quality offering was not supriring, however we were taken aback by the number of new market entrants who flagged their intention to buy the property.
“The sale is yet another demonstration [of] the confidence in the resurgence of the Melbourne CBD market, particularly for well-located properties in the east end of the CBD which are poised to capitalise on the city’s growth story.”