Real Estate Agents Bentleigh East: The best streets in Bentleigh East

Leafy streets, cafes and a fantastic location characterise this suburb, writes JAYNE D’ARCY.

The shopping strip Merchants Guild nestles in is relaxed and presents well, with a couple of old op shops to add to its classic, old-school, almost 1950s feel.

The suburb of BentleighEast is bordered by North Road, Warrigal Road, South Road and Tucker Road. Home to mostly post-war abodes, it has recently boomed. “Bentleigh East has recorded one of the highest annual growth rates of any Melbourne suburb over the past year,” says Dr Andrew Wilson of Domain Group. Wilson says: “House prices increased by 20.7 per cent over the year ending March.”

Part of Bentleigh East’s appeal to buyers is its proximity to shopping centres (Chadstone is just down the road) and sporting infrastructure, including the Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre. It’s also home to desirable government schools including McKinnon Secondary College, which, according to its website, is one of the best-performing non-selective government schools in Victoria. Centre Road is home to one of the area’s busiest and coolest cafes, the Merchants Guild (680 Centre Road). It opened last year and is frequently packed. You’ll be lucky to get in without a wait on a weekend, which is the only time you can get your hands on one of their run-out-the-door-in-minutes salted caramel doughnuts. The industrial-styled cafe has a factory of sorts behind the main seating area, where prana chai tea is made from scratch (it’s “made on site with all the love in the world” according to the menu). The shopping strip Merchants Guild nestles in is relaxed and presents well, with a couple of old op shops to add to its classic, old-school, almost 1950s feel.

Top spot: Centre Road boasts good cafes. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Moylan Street

“When house-hunters do their planning, what’s making Bentleigh East so desirable is that if you’re comparing it to comparably-priced suburbs, like Highett, or you start pushing down along the coast, you’re getting a long away from the CBD. Where as Bentleigh East still has you in striking distance,” says Craig Williamson, director of Buxton Bentleigh. Pretty tree-lined Moylan Street runs between McKinnon Road and cuts off before North Road. “The main thing about Moylan Street is it’s a Bentleigh East address but it’s so well-located,” says Williamson. “It’s family-oriented and children who go to McKinnon Secondary College can walk from the front door to their front gate. Here you’re not too far from McKinnon station … and the McKinnon shops” he says.

The street sports a handful of Californian Bungalows, with the rest being smaller post-war homes. Some have been rendered and/or developed into battle-axe blocks, but today it is developers buying in, demolishing the post-war homes and building two-storey townhouses. “At the moment, these blocks are around the $950,000 mark to acquire,” says Williamson. “It’s absolutely boomed,” he says.

Tudor Street

“This would be the widest, most prestigious street in Bentleigh East,” says Williamson. “One side of the street all the houses have north-facing backyards, so the ones with living areas in the back are sun-drenched. It’s Melburnians’ most-prized orientation,” he says.

There is only a smattering of new homes, with many of the post-war weatherboard abodes looking like they could do with either some love or a wrecking ball. Much of the housing on Tudor Street is certainly ripe for reinvention, but it’s about location here. “You’ve got easy access to shops at Mackie Road here, and Warrigal Road will have you at the South Eastern Freeway and Chadstone in ten minutes and it’s the nicest, widest tree-lined street in the postcode,” says Williamson. It’s also, according to Williamson, affordable. “We’re out of the school zone here, so properties here are in the $700,000s, depending on the land value,” he says.

*article sourced from domain.com.au