Historic Sydney building with ties to the 1967 referendum hits the market
A Sydney building which played a role in one of the key political and social movements of 1960s Australia has been listed for sale for the first time in 45 years, with agents saying it could have a new life as student accommodation.
The three-storey freehold property at 810-812a George Street, Haymarket, near Central Station, is expected to attract local, interstate and offshore developers and investors, CBRE selling agent Gemma Isgro said.
“It is extremely tightly held down there, everything in that immediate island has been held for at least 20 years. This building hasn’t changed ownership for 45 years,” she said.
The property, next to the St Laurence Church, hasn’t changed hands in 45 years. Photo: Supplied
“The light rail is literally going to be on the doorstep of the property.”
The 1930s-era building, on a 280-square-metre block that currently houses a cafe and martial arts studio, was during the 1960s home to one of Sydney’s early Aboriginal organisations, the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs.
Established in 1964, the Foundation’s activism partly drove the success of the landmark 1967 referendum, in which Indigenous Australians were included in the census for the first time.
The group, which closed in 1977 because of funding cuts, also offered support to the local Aboriginal community including food, assistance with housing, scholarships and legal aid.
Ms Isgro, who has the listing with Michael Khouri and Nicholas Heaton, anticipates most of the inquiries will come from developers wanting to build student accommodation, given its proximity to the University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney and TAFE Ultimo College.
“I think the strongest interest will come from accommodation users; the site that sold at 152 Broadway in Chippendale was to an accommodation provider. We took a property to market at 210 Elizabeth St (Surry Hills) last year and the majority of interest was from all accommodation users.”
Ms Isgro added that other possible buyers include owner-occupiers who would want to tap into the retail foot traffic from the ground floor, or investors who may land-bank the site.
Mr Khouri said that the height limit of 50 metres – or about 15 storeys – combined with the bonus 1.5:1 floor space ratio provided an incentive for student accommodation development, which lifts the ratio to 9:1, “is very encouraging for high-density development”.
Ms Isgro said the owners, who are a private family, have decided to sell now to capitalise on the market conditions especially on George Street.
“It’s just time for them to part ways with it, they pretty much just want to take their money and give it to their kids and let them do what they want with it,” she said.
The last time a similar freehold property was sold in Haymarket was in March 2017, when 82-84 Dixon Street on 342 square metres sold for $19.9 million at auction. That building hadn’t been on the market for 100 years.
The George Street site, next to Christ Church St Laurence, is zoned B8 metropolitan centre and is not heritage-listed but is within the local conservation area.
Expressions of interest close February 28.
