After a dozen years’ tenure, husband and wife team Jeff and Suzanne Marshall have listed their picturesque Metropolitan Hotel for an ‘E’-change, back to where they met.
Jeff and Suzanne first met in her home of England, but came to live in his home of Melbourne. They bought the lease of the charming old Metropolitan in 2004, building it into one of the region’s best-known pubs for foodies.
The area has benefited greatly from the nearby Meat Market development, offering assorted spaces for performances, community events, studio, conferences, meetings and offices, and expansion of the Royal Melbourne hospital facilities.
Jeff told PubTIC its time he let the wife move back home, but hospitality will still be central to what they do.
“We’re going to live in England. We’ve got property, and bought into a retirement business and going to manage that,” he said.
“I’ve kept her out here for 15 years … it’s time to go back.”
Boasting a large front bar, elegant dining room, ‘cellar’ dining/function room, commercial kitchen and 3am licence, it is being marketed by CBRE’s Scott Callow and Will Connolly, who praise the couple’s legacy on the Hotel, describing a quality of service “unrivalled in North Melbourne”.
“The Metropolitan Hotel is one of Melbourne’s true ‘gastro’ pubs,” proffered Connolly.
“It’s definitively Melbourne in its presentation and appeal, housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Victoria, so we’re expecting a huge amount of interest from Melbourne’s hospitality scene given this is the first time the hotel has been on the market for many years.”
The Metropolitan has at least 12 years remaining on its lease, and will be sold via an Expressions of Interest campaign, closing 15 December, 2016.
