Skipping Girl building for sale

12 December 2020

Retail Source

A slice of Melbourne’s industrial past, the building featuring the neon-lit Skipping Girl sign, is up for sale. The waterfront office complex opposite the Victoria Gardens shopping centre in Abbotsford has been home to the heritage-listed Skipping Girl since 1970. Heritage Victoria believes it was the first animated neon sign to be displayed in Melbourne. The iconic marker features a girl, known as “Little Audrey”, skipping over a rope with painted letters spelling “Vinegar” in neon at the base. It was originally erected in 1936 above a vinegar factory at 627 Victoria Street and remained there until 1968 before being removed when the factory relocated to Altona. After a public outcry, the sign was copied and reinstated on the roof of 651 Victoria Street. The new Skipping Girl varied a little from the original, “being slightly smaller, the girl having slightly longer hair and with her dress flying up higher at the back,” according to Heritage Victoria.

The property under the Skipping Girl, a four-level office complex with 3677 square metres of leasing space, is owned by multiple strata title holders. The complex is expected to fetch above $20 million. The transaction is being handled by boutique funds manager Vantage Property Investments. It also owns strata title units in the complex. Agents appointed include CBRE’s Josh Rutman, Scott Orchard and Lewis Tong and Colliers International’s Peter Bremner, Rob Joyes and Rachael Clohesy. “This is a truly unique opportunity to own an iconic part of Melbourne’s historic fabric,” Mr Rutman said. “We expect wide-ranging interest in Skipping Girl Place, given Little Audrey’s iconic status, and the location and potential of the site.”