A seven storey central Melbourne building owned by the Greek Australian family of late Theo Conos for the last 37 years has been listed for sale.
Expected to trade for between $15 and $20 million, the so called Swanston House was built in 1922 by architect Nahum Barnet.
It is reportedly one of the few properties on the shopping street that have been put up for sale in the past decade or so and agents representing the owners are marketing it for retail occupiers.
Theo Conos’ father, Michael Economides had established one of the first Greek restaurant’s in Melbourne in another iconic CBD precinct.
OMONIA restaurant on Lonsdale Street opened its doors some 70 years ago after Economides settled in Melbourne.
He had migrated from Kastellorizo to Australia in 1908 and became the foundation president of the Kastellorizian Brotherhood in 1925.
According to the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria, Theo Conos had to interrupt his architecture studies at 20 years old, when his father passed to take over the fruit shop business the family operated on Carlton’s Lygon Street.
An excerpt from a tribute of the Association to Theo Connos on the occasion of awarding him the Kazzie of the Year Award in 2006, reads:
“He stuck with the fruit shop for several more years, rising at 3 am to shop at the wholesale Fruit & Vegies market, now the Queen Victoria Market Melbourne. When he sold the shop and ventured into the hospitality business he didn’t succeed, but he learnt from that experience giving him a strong foundation for his future ventures.”
In the 1950s, Conos opened a coffee shop just off Collins Street, with several following at the Northland, Southland and the Chadstone Shopping Centres.
His portfolio expanded to managing up to 60 businesses over a four-decade period.
The 163 Swanston Street property is scheduled for auction on 21 October.
