This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
TWO metropolitan Sydney office buildings are believed to have sold to Asia-based buyers for nearly $200 million in the space of a few days.
Diamond Genest made a tidy profit on the sale of 80 George St in Parramatta for $82 million to a Chinese group, after paying $51.9 million for the building just three years ago to GDI Property Group.
GDI had itself bought the property for $38.7 million only 12 months earlier.
On 1,721 sqm of land on the the corner of George St and Horwood Pl, the refurbished B-grade office building has 8,093 sqm of net lettable area, ground floor retail and two basement parking levels, and has a weighted average lease expiry of around five years.
Diamond Genest has held multiple commercial properties in Parramatta.
The deal follows another Asian investor picking up the nine-level, 6,675 sqm North Sydney office tower at 107 Mount St for about $115 million from Burcher Property.
The property sold with a shorter lease expiry profile and two levels are currently available for lease. Refurbishment of the ground floor lobby, forecourt area and façade was completed in 2014.
Development potential for the site could allow for a 34-level, 31,187 sqm office tower.
These are just the latest transactions in Sydney’s hot office market. Earlier this month Taiwanese-backed Shayher Group spent $63.6 million on two office buildings.
Late last month the Hong Kong Monetary Authority paid $450 million for a stake in the Wynyard Place development, which came hot on the heels of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC acquiring a 25.1% stake in the Barangaroo office towers earlier this month. It comes after GIC sold 50% interest in Chifley Tower to Charter Hall for $900 million.
Charter Hall quickly followed up the Chifley deal by teaming up with Canada’s Quadreal and Abacus Property Group to buy 201 Elizabeth St for $630 million.
Other notable transactions include Blackstone paying $1.52 billion for the 100 Market St and 77 and 85 Castlereagh St towers; Hong Kong billionaire Francis Choi bought out Cromwell to take full ownership of Northpoint Tower for $300 million; as did Dexus with co-owner GPT for the MLC Centre for $800 million; GPT forked out $531 million for a 25% interest in the Darling Park 1 & 2 and Cockle Bay Wharf complex; US fund manager Starwood Capital and Arrow Capital bought The Zenith Centre for $438.2 million, and Charter Hall spent $804 million on two King Street Wharf office buildings, just to name a few.
A recent report by Cushman & Wakefield found commercial property transactions soared by 22% in the 2019 financial year to $42.6 billion. It was underpinned by office deals which accounted for $23.1 billion of total sales, up 22.6%.
Office investment volumes were highest in New South Wales, at $10.2 billion, with Sydney remaining the most active market for deal.
