Key Sydney city fringe development site sells under the hammer for $21 million

A Chippendale development site strategically located in the Sydney city fringe has sold at auction for $21 million.

Formerly housing the office of Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek​, the site at 142-152 Broadway was offered to market jointly by Ray White Commercial NSW – Sydney City Fringe and Colliers International.

Ray White Commercial NSW agent Justin Rose says the buyer, the University of Notre Dame Australia, was one of two bidders at the November 2 auction, with bidding starting at $16 million and escalating quickly to $21 million before the property sold under the hammer.

Most bids were in increments of $1 million and the underbidder was a developer based in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

“The site represents an irreplaceable development opportunity in Sydney’s key education precinct and the sale is a phenomenal result — all parties are thrilled,” says Mr Rose, who shared the listing with Colliers International’s Miron Solomons.

“It was a driven result — not negotiated. They [the buyer] had to fight for it.”

The property has dual-street access to Broadway and Grafton Lane and is close to the Sydney CBD, Broadway shopping centre, UTS and the University of Sydney, as well as Notre Dame’s existing Broadway campus.

Previously owned by a private investor, the 518sqm property was offered with vacant possession and has mixed-use zoning, with a height limit of 25m.

The deal equals Mr Rose’s previous record sale of $21 million — a building in Myrtle Street, Chippendale, in 2016.

Led by Mr Rose and Principal Kristian Morris, Ray White Commercial’s Sydney City Fringe office opened in Glebe in May 2017.

The operation is a key part of the network’s strategy to build a corporate commercial business that represents all regions of the Sydney metropolitan market.

The auction was held in Colliers International’s auction rooms in Margaret Street, Sydney.