One of Adelaide’s best-known heritage restaurants hits market
A beautiful old villa – once home to one of Adelaide’s go-to five-star restaurants for special celebrations – is on the market with a hefty price tag.
The landmark Chloe’s Restaurant and Function Centre site in Kent Town that closed in 2019 has hit the market, with its sellers looking for more than $8 million or for someone to lease the well-known site.
In its heyday, the College Road award-winning restaurant that was housed in an important example of South Australia’s mid to late 19th-century bluestone architecture, served traditional French-inspired haute cuisine for some 33 years.
Its vast underground basement cellar famously housed an extraordinary collection of 20,000 bottles of rare and vintage wines, including a stash of ’82 Petrus that now sell at auction for up to $8000, as well as all the most famous wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy.
The site’s private local and overseas investor owners are now hoping to sell or lease the site with McGees Property’s Simon Lambert and James Juers saying it spreads across a substantial 2,440sqm corner site over two titles.
In a statement, they said the local council had advised developments up to six storeys would be considered on the site, given its position at an accessible corner of a busy intersection close to the CBD; the areas of open space surrounding the land; and the range of uses in the area, including office, residential, educational, and commercial.
The building is currently listed as a local heritage place by the Norwood, Payneham and St Peters Council, meaning any buyer would need planning approval for “any work (including painting) that could materially affect the heritage value of the place”, according to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.
You might like
Preliminary discussions at the council level have considered a six-storey mixed-use development comprising commercial uses at ground level, and residential above, they said.
But McGees confirmed there was no current development application for the site and the house must be retained in any future plans.
Along with residential, office and hospitality uses, they believed there was also potential for a new childcare centre or aged care facility on the site (STCA).
The Chloe’s building was constructed circa-1880 as a landmark during Kent Town’s growth into a wealthy residential hub; the island residence has famously housed many Adelaide identities.
They included J. H. Weidenhofer, an auctioneer and licensed valuer who lived in the home circa 1900; it was a residence and surgery to Dr Muecke circa 1930, followed by Dr Reginald N.C. Bickford of the famous Bickford Lime Juice family.
Stay informed, daily
Victoria Kraitzer Antiques and Kent Town Galleries operated at the site from 1967 until 1978, before it became home to Enzo’s Restaurant.
In 1985, the historic building was purchased by Nick Papazahariakis and a painstakingly accurate restoration to its Victorian elegance was undertaken.
The property opened to the public in 1986 as Chloe’s Restaurant, and to accommodate growing demand, a modern function centre was constructed, expanding the layout while preserving the original bluestone heritage villa.
The interiors of Chloe’s were something to marvel at, with French mirrors that had once graced a Scottish castle, an 18th-century table that seats 22, chandeliers from England and France and the first ever infusion coffee maker from 1844.
It was lined with museum-quality paintings, including one by Louis Tannert that hung in a private dining room bearing its name.
Back in 2016, the menu at Chloe’s included an eight-course degustation for $125 paired with wines for $75, while the à la carte menu entrées averaged $30 and main courses $40.
Chloe’s also hosted popular cooking classes in its kitchen, where many a home cook learnt the tricks of the trade.
After 33 years of operation, Chloe’s Restaurant permanently closed, so the owner could retire.
In 2018, Papazahariakis applied for and received Norwood Council planning approval for an impressive five-level, 3,161sqm blended office and residential development.
Concepts have been drawn up, respectively, for a six-level residential hub totalling 5,665sqm, and a 7,765sqm project with seven levels of residential apartments plus lower ground and upper ground level parking.
Juers said leasing interest was expected to come from restaurateurs and function room operators looking to take over a recognisable site that has been the long-term home of a well-known Adelaide restaurant, and which presents as an opportunity to revamp a character-rich inner-city villa and create a new flagship venue.
“People already know this venue, so it’s a great opportunity for someone new to purchase and/or lease and breathe new life into something already carrying goodwill whilst keeping its historic character,” he said.
“The commercial kitchen has been recommissioned under the current ownership, making this all the more an attractive economic and logistical prospect for an incoming operator.”
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
