THE NIGHT CAT PURRS ON

A very local investor out-muscled an owner-occupier and a swathe of residential developers to acquire the Fitzroy property tenanted by The Night Cat this week. Applause followed the lively auction when it was revealed a neighbouring land owner, Andrew Demetriou - not the AFL CEO - bought the property for $4.63 million - $1.4 million more than it was quoted at last month. Mr Demetriou owns the gymnasium, bagel shop and Centrelink offices that surround the Night Cat building at 137-141 Johnston Street. The 20 year old bar would have faced eviction in 2014 had the site sold to a builder as expected. The single-level building sits on a large 842 square metre block on the north west corner of Young Street, near the popular Brunswick Street retail strip, but opposite a petrol station. It’s understood Mr Demetriou has a strong relationship with The Night Cat operators - and that the bar will now be offered a long term lease. The Night Cat currently pays $195,000 in annual rent. Attended by more than 100 people, the under bidder was reportedly Reece Plumbing, which planned to owner occupy. Colliers International’s Jeremy Gruzewski and Andrew Ryan marketed the asset with CBRE's Mark Wizel and Scott Callow. Agency Vinci Carbone, represented the purchaser.