Interest was strong in both the Parramatta building sold by the CBIC and an eight-floor commercial office building in Liverpool.
Over $100 million worth of office buildings in Parramatta and Liverpool have been sold in two significant deals.
The Parramatta building at 9 George Street was offloaded by the City of Brisbane Investment Corporation (CBIC) in a deal worth $49.6 million. The Colliers team of John McCann and James Girvan negotiated the deal.
With an NLA of 5,479sqm, the property was purchased in 2018 by CBIC’s Kirsty Rourke (now CEO). CBIC was able to attract the NSW Government to a long-term lease shortly after Manpower vacated, then undertook a refurbishment program which included modernisation and upgrades to foyers, bathrooms, BMS and HVAC, as well as improving the building’s NABERs Energy rating to 5 stars.
Five registered groups were interested in the property with a short list of three stronger parties.
“One of the most appealing factors of the building was the recent capital expenditure spent on the asset, which provides immediate appeal to the incoming buyer,” Mr Girvan said.
“The asset’s ability to be quickly leased in the past meant it attracted strong enquiry levels. The property has a number of longstanding tenants renewing or taking more space in the asset. This was certainly something investors liked,” Mr McCann added.
Strong interest resulted in a local Parramatta Investor securing the property after a short due diligence period, exchanging before Christmas and settling in February.
The other major sale was at 203 Northumberland Street in Liverpool, which sold for $54.5 million on behalf of Stirling Property Funds through John McCann and Frank Oliveri of Colliers, in conjunction with Dominic Ong and Wally Scales of Knight Frank.
The commercial office building comprises 7,290sqm and underwent a repositioning program which included improving the building’s NABERS Energy rating to 4.5 stars. Tenants include CBA, Westpac, NSW State Government, Brydens, Ramsay Health and Catholic Care. The building sold on an initial yield of 5.9 per cent, a rate per sqm of $7,476 and a WALE of 4.36 years by income.
“The property’s strong investment fundamentals with recent major refurbishments, little to no vacancy and a WALE of 4.7 years resulted in substantial interest and ticked a lot of boxes for investors. The property exchanged quickly and settled in four weeks showing there are still plenty of buyers looking to invest in the metro market,” Mr McCann said.
“Interest from local southwest investors as well as a sitting tenant enabled us to get a strong result for the vendor. Southwest Sydney has an average annual growth rate of 2.3 per cent, well above the state average of 1.6 per cent,” Mr Oliveri added. “Liverpool is attracting investment enquiries off the back of the new Sydney Airport, which is only 30 minutes from the Liverpool CBD.”
“There was also considerable interest from both local and offshore buyers, with several inspecting the property,” Mr Ong said.
“Liverpool has undoubtedly attracted more enquiry thanks in part to the infrastructure spend in the CBD. These projects include the Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct, a $790 million redevelopment of Liverpool Hospital and a new education and research hub,” Mr Scales said.