The former Ambassador Hotel has had a troubled past, but six apartment sales at $80,000 a piece could be the start of a brighter future.
Six Frankston apartments in the notorious former Ambassador Hotel, once considered among Australia’s most dangerous addresses, have just sold for $80,000 each.
The Nepean Highway property is today home to a reputation as Melbourne’s most affordable address, with regular apartment sales for under $100,000, and signs it is improving.
But eight years ago its incidences of drug abuse and stabbings became so bad paramedics wouldn’t attend without a police escort.
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A wedding venue in its heyday, it was later turned into ultra-affordable short-stay accommodation with one resident jailed after they stabbed another following a dispute over $27 in 2018.
In the past, residents have also hired 24-hour security guards, and in 2017 it was branded one of the most dangerous addresses in the country by residents in coverage by Leader newspapers.
In the past year it has attracted a series of sales around and even below the $100,000 mark, but its latest series of deals are among the cheapest in years — with some of its worst residences changing hands to an investor in Adelaide who plans to try and revive them as rentals.
A 2015 photo taken inside the Ambassador Hotel not long before it was branded one of the nation’s most dangerous addresses. Picture Jason Sammon.
A more recent photo inside one of the better quality apartments sold at 160/325 Nepean Highway, Frankston.
Combined the studios sold for $480,000, with the buyer unfazed by one of them being in such poor condition it had been boarded up prior to sale and even the selling agent noting “the only good thing was the bricks”.
At that price, the six homes cost $144,000 less than Melbourne’s $624,000 median priced unit, according to latest PropTrack data.
Aquire Real Estate’s John Walsh said while one had been boarded up, he felt two more of them should have been as well.
“When I went through, we had to unscrew the boards to go in,” Mr Walsh said.
“The kitchen and bathroom needs to replaced. The ceiling needs work. The only good thing was the bricks.”
How another of the recently sold apartments looks inside.
Another 2015 image showing how the property looked in one of its most rundown states.
They were so bad, the agents selling them insisted the buyer inspect — even if it meant a plane trip.
“We wanted him to see it before he bought them,” Mr Walsh said.
“But he was happy when he saw them.”
Each measuring about 39sq m, the apartments come with an open-plan living area that doubles as a bedroom, a kitchenette with a sink and space for a fridge, and a bathroom with a toilet and shower.
“Most people wouldn’t touch them,” Mr Walsh said.
“We took a few people through and while it looked good on paper, the reality is there will be a fair amount of cost.”
But the agent said he was hoping the six-piece sale could be a major step forward for the long-troubled former wedding venue that has had its share of police visits over the years.
While he wasn’t sure if the constabulary were still being called to the address, Mr Walsh said he assumed they would be.
What you get for your $80,000.
A dated bathroom inside one of the recently homes.
“When I first went into real estate it was way worse than it is now,” he said.
“But I reckon we are on our way, this is a good start.”
He estimated that about 10 or 15 per cent of the more than 100 apartments in the wider Ambassador complex would be in similar condition to the ones he’d just sold, so getting a good chunk of them cleaned up and repaired would go a long way towards improving the overall feel of the wider address.
At least one of the homes had to be sold twice, with the initial buyer getting cold feet after they initially agreed to buy it.
It’s expected the transformation of the units could commence shortly, with the buyer inquiring about accessing them under license before the sale settles in a month or two.
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