Bidding for old Sydney Harbour ferry wharf starts at $9
Transport geeks and lovers of Sydney Harbour history take note – here’s a chance to nab an old, disused ferry wharf.
The former Woolwich Ferry pontoon is being auctioned with a starting price of $9, via Grays.com. At the time of publishing, bidding for the pontoon – which was listed on Tuesday, December 8 – had reached $109.
The pontoon operated from 1994 to 2020 and was removed as part of an upgrade of the ferry wharf completed in September this year.
The winning bidder will get the pontoon, shelter structure and deck furniture, as well as original drawings by Sydney Ferries dated 1989 and a Statement of Heritage Impact from the NSW government.
The property is being sold by Polaris Marine, a Sydney-based company that works on marine construction projects and maritime transport logistics.
The pontoon is docked at their facilities at Rozelle Bay and can be transported to the new owner’s location of choice. While the Woolwich ferry wharf site is heritage-listed, the pontoon is not.
“They’ll take the signing and everything off the pontoon – it’s the actual area at Woolwich that is heritage listed,” Grays’ business development manager Shaun Clifford confirmed.
Mr Clifford said that Polaris Marine had initially considered selling it through an expressions-of-interest campaign, but the unique nature of the asset had made it difficult to set price expectations.
“We discussed it with Polaris and decided to put it up for six days [via auction] to see what sort of interest it gets,” Mr Clifford said.
“It was listed yesterday, and we’ve been hammered with calls since this morning. There’s a lot of interest from private buyers and a lot of businesses,” he said, estimating an even split between the two groups. He confirmed that the majority of interested buyers had existing marina facilities.
Mr Clifford said that he was unaware of any other ferry wharf pontoon having been previously sold.
“That was the exciting thing – when [Polaris] came to us we hadn’t really had anything like this; it’s been rare to find anything like this,” Mr Clifford said.
“It’s definitely a first for Grays, so there’s not a great deal of information about.”
The pontoon, which measures 24 metres by 8.5 metres by 2.2 metres, is comprised of a steel hull with one longitudinal and three transverse bulkheads, and a concrete deck slab, according to the Grays website.
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