Balmain marina with rare adjoining freehold land for sale publicly for the first time in 130 years
A slice of Sydney harbourfront real estate held by the same family for almost 60 years has hit the market, offering a rare commercial opportunity in a part of the city which has been dominated by residential development in recent decades.
Cameron’s Marina, located on the Balmain Peninsula and listed for public sale for the first time since 1889, is being offered with a price guide of $6 million-plus and is a rare example of a Sydney marina with adjoining freehold waterfront land.
The 348-square-metre site, which is zoned residential but currently operating as a marina under an existing-use right, is being pitched at a variety of buyers.
Its inner-city location, a mere 5.5 kilometres to the Sydney CBD, would be a chief consideration for most buyers, said agent Andrew Langsford, vice president of investment sales at JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.
“One [option] is someone who wants waterfront property in Balmain, with the added bonus of having your own jetty,” he said, adding that all plans would be subject to council approval.
“[It could also interest] someone who already has a marina operation in the harbour and wants to add this on to their operation, or someone who wants to reinvigorate the marina and put a cafe/restaurant in.”
Along with the marina, the property currently consists of a three-level building comprising a self-contained caretaker’s accommodation, office and marina workshop.
Mr Langsford said owing to the site’s size and the lack of direct street access, building apartments on the site would be “difficult”.
The most recent sales of marinas in Sydney Harbour include Woolwich Marina at $11.5 million in 2015 and the d’Albora Marinas portfolio, which included marinas at Rushcutters Bay and The Spit and was sold by Ardent Leisure to Balmain Corporation for $126 milllion in late 2016.
Rob Cameron, whose family company owns the site, hopes that a new owner will continue to operate the marina component of the site.
“It was purchased in the early 1960s by my late father Peter Cameron,” said Mr Cameron, who was still in school at the time.
“I’d like to see it keep going, I’d like to see someone who has the same interest in developing the marina buy it.”
The property dates back to the 1800s, according to Mr Cameron.
The original boat shed, which had harpoons hanging on the wall – a reference to a past associated with Sydney’s once-thriving whaling trade – burnt down in 1983 and was replaced by the current structure in 1985.
The marina currently has between 12 and 20 fixed berths (depending on vessel size), a work berth, slipway and 21 swing moorings. The berths and moorings are on a “wet lease” to the NSW Roads and Maritime Services until 2037.
The moorings generated a net profit of $159,844 in 2018.
Cameron’s Marina, at 5a Phoebe Street, in Balmain, is being sold by expressions of interest which close on July 4.
