An age of all-you-can-eat '90s nostalgia may be coming to an end in Ballarat and Victoria as Pizza Hut's dine-in future comes into question.
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The building on 31 Victoria Street is currently up for sale and new owners will need to negotiate with the current tenant.
The fast food chain appears to be moving away from a dine-in model and leaning more heavily on the take-away side of the business.
In 2018 there were a number of dine-in locations in Victoria including Bendigo and Shepparton.
Over the past six months at least four venues across the country have closed.
Now Ballarat remains the last Victorian location standing while different states hold on to only a handful of stores - four in NSW, three in Queensland, one in Tasmania and our location in the gateway to the Ballarat CBD.
Colliers Ballarat senior executive Charles Kennedy said the property sat on a great location to be seen by travellers leaving the Western Freeway and heading in or out of Ballarat.
He said the extra large frontage also added to the property's advantages.
Mr Kennedy said the current tenant was on a periodic lease and so the building was being sold with "vacant possession".
"If someone wants it that way or if they want to negotiate a new lease with Pizza Hut, [they're] welcome to," Mr Kennedy said.
Council planning applications are currently before the City of Greater Bendigo to turn their empty Pizza Hut dine-in location into a drive-through Mexican restaurant Guzman y Gomez.
Mr Kennedy said the easiest option for a potential Ballarat tenant would be a hospitality venue or full service restaurant with the infrastructure already in place, but there was also room for a new type of service.
"Somebody may want to develop it, and convert it into a medical centre," he said.
"It could be any number of different uses, given the size of the building and location."
With a car park of 725 square-metres there would be space to grow or rebuild the site, potentially making way for a drive-through option.
"Or have two different buildings on two sites, provided it satisfies council's requirements," Mr Kennedy said. Despite the great location and large frontage available, Mr Kennedy said the property would attract more high-risk investors due to the current month to month lease agreement.
Mr Kennedy said the current tenant was looking to change or update its lease.
"An investor is probably going to look at it [and think] 'well what kind of market rent can I achieve if I put someone else in other than Pizza Hut?'," he said.
IN THE NEWS:
All-you-can-eat style restaurants were a popular destination in the 1990s - alongside Pizza Hut, consumers also indulged in places like Sizzler and Smorgy's.
In Ballarat, the days of children's birthday parties and unlimited soft-serve could be all but a memory.
Pizza Hut Australia has been contacted for comment.
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