This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE City of Sydney has splashed out $110 million on acquiring heritage-listed office building The Woolstores in the inner city suburb of Alexandria.
The Woolstores is a collection of three reinvented wool sheds whose major occupants include Living Edge, Swarovski and Thyssenkrupp Elevators. The City of Sydney bought 4C-4F Huntley Street in an off-market deal from Andrew Roberts’ property funds platform RF CorVal on a yield of 4.9%. It has a weighted average lease expiry of 3.3 years.
“The income from this type of investment helps to fund the City’s services and capital works projects, easing the burden on ratepayers,” said a City of Sydney spokesperson.
According to MSCI, the Sydney office market was the country’s most active for transactions in the first half of 2022, up 14% year on year to over $4.28 billion.
RF CorVal, backed by billionaire and former Multiplex head Andrew Roberts, bought the Woolstores in 2014 for $51.75 million and on a net yield of 7.5% as the properties’ transition to office use was being completed. It was held in the RF CorVal Woolstores Trust.
RF Corval achieved a 21% investor internal rate on the property, and an equity multiple of 3.1 times over the investment term.
In July, it also sold a fully leased office building in Brisbane’s Hamilton for $46.5 million. Originally built in 2016 for the tenant, a multinational energy company, the asset has a WALE of 9.5-years.
