This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ONE of Australia’s most expensive retail strips has seen another sale, with a portion of the Searock Grill restaurant in Circular Quay selling for $6 million – at an eye-watering $122,450 per sqm.
Five properties have sold along the waterfront strip over the past few years for a combined $46.667 million.
Colliers and Plus Agency managed four of those sales for a transaction value of $43.7 million. Joseph Lin of Colliers and Fiona Yang of Plus Agency negotiated the latest deal, of the 49 sqm Shop 16, 1A Macquarie Street, on a yield of 5.83%.
The property has a five-year lease with holding income and sees an average of over 50,000 pedestrians daily.
“The continued high interest from international and local buyers has again resulted in one of the highest per sqm rates ever seen. The iconic views of the Harbour Bridge and location in the heart of Sydney will always ensure investors compete strongly for these assets,” Lin said.
Higher interest rates have made a small dent in per square metre prices along the strip. Other notable sales have included the Guylian Café two years ago, for $11.5 million at $153,358 per sqm, which at the time took the national record off the 43 sqm Coco bubble tea shop close by at $132,558 per sqm. That record was quickly broken by the $2.967 million sale of the pint-sized 16 sqm Gelato Tesoro shop at Lot 2, 1A Macquarie Street, at $185,437 per sqm.
The premises of renowned Italian restaurant Eastbank sold last summer for $20.5 million, at $135,761 per sqm.
“Rebounding strongly post-COVID, Sydney’s Circular Quay is home to both a significant workforce and tourism market. With the return of tourists and increased infrastructure expenditure into the precinct, the desirability of Circular Quay is only set to continue making the asset perfectly positioned to capitalise on strong future growth prospects,” Lin said.
The NSW government’s has committed $216 million to transform the Circular Quay precinct with new public and green spaces and new ferry wharves.
