Telstra wants to hang up on Redfern exchange for $20m

A price range of around $20 million is expected for the 4000 square metre site, which sits on a 1260 sq m block. The seven-storey building has protected 360-degree views over heritage-constrained surrounding properties.

The telco will sell the site as a sale and leaseback while it decommissions the property and moves the required infrastructure into the adjacent building.

In 2020, Telstra sold its 16-storey commercial building in the centre of the Sydney CBD to Charter Hall for $281 million, and has been offloading smaller suburban exchanges as it upgrades its digital offerings.

Knight Frank agents Will Brassil, Andrew Harford and James Masselos will handle the sale with advice from Charter Keck Cramer.

Harford said enquiry from offshore capital, especially from South-East Asia, has increased and is driving considerable pricing tension with Australian-domiciled groups.

Centennial hits Matraville

Investor and property developer Centennial has paid $39.1 million for a prime 9600 square metre logistics site at Matraville in Sydney’s east for its Enhanced Value Partnership (EVP) fund.

The site was sold by EG Funds and sits 700 metres from Port Botany, at 81-87 Beauchamp Road. It comes with a vacant 6240 square metre multi-tenancy warehouse that had previously generated an annual passing income of $1.282 million.

The deal was brokered by Colliers’ Gavin Bishop, Sean Thomson, Michael Crombie and Trent Gallagher, and JLL’s Ben Hegerty, Jack Kelliher and Joel Scully.

EG also sold an industrial property 5 Williamson Road, Ingleburn, for $62 million, and Irongate is understood to be the buyer. The two sales by EG realised a combined 41 per cent uplift in value since the acquisitions in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Centennial is run by Adrian Taylor, former property CEO at Macquarie and Charter Hall, with Jonathan Wolf, the son of the late Frank Wolf, known as the Wolf of George Street. The group has a portfolio of 84 assets and over $2.48 billion under management.

Coles trumps Woolies

In a switcheroo deal, Coles will open its second supermarket in Sydney’s lower north shore, replacing rival Woolworths. Woolies’ flagship store in the suburb, when it opened in 2003, was on a 4282 square metre at 43-51 Grosvenor Street site, which Coles acquired in 2013 for $40 million.

Coles, which already has a supermarket at the nearby Big Bear centre in Military Road, has booted Woolies off the site and will open a temporary supermarket at Grosvenor Street in April. The supermarket giant wants planning approval to build apartments above a new Coles store in a development valued at about $170 million.

Woolworths will still retain a presence in Neutral Bay at its 1-7 Rangers Road site.

On the rocks

Private developer Wentworth Capital is spearheading a new chapter in the story of Sydney’s The Rocks district, launching stage one sales at Long’s Lane Heritage Terraces.

Long’s Lane consists of 17 residences and one commercial property, some built as early as 1806, offering the only privately held Torrens title houses in The Rocks. Fourteen of the eighteen properties are listed on the State Heritage Register.

The sales launch marks a turning point in the site’s tumultuous modern history. That included plans to demolish the buildings in favour of high-rise commercial structures during the 1960s, which the government rejected.

The 1980s saw another scheme for an 800-bed hotel, which despite not proceeding resulted in the 18 properties being merged under one title. Following the plan’s rejection, Long’s Lane became underutilised and fell into disrepair.

It follows a similar course to the Millers’ Point redevelopment. The stage one sales launch includes the properties at 136-138 Cumberland Street, 130 Cumberland Street, and 13 and 15 Carahers Lane.

The precinct is also home to one of the earliest laneways in Sydney and some of the first European architecture in Australia, including Jobbins Terrace.