Heritage-listed Blacksmiths' Workshop at Breakfast Point sold for $7.3 million
A heritage-listed building on a sprawling waterfront block with uninterrupted views of the Parramatta River in the inner-west suburb of Breakfast Point has sold to a family who intend to use the property as a private residence.
Listing agent Peter Vines, of Ray White Commercial Western Sydney, said contracts on the property at 123 Peninsula Drive were exchanged this week.
The property hit the market in March, just prior to the coronavirus taking full effect. Mr Vines said while the pandemic “probably” resulted in some groups withdrawing their interest during the campaign, it appeared to have had little impact on the final price.
He described the sale as a good outcome for the local community, with the use of the property as a residence likely to have “very little impact”.
The building has been used most recently as a sales office for new apartments in the precinct, but had recently become superfluous following the completion of the precinct after about two decades of urban renewal.
“The market is adjusting – I think the challenge is that people don’t know how to factor risk in at the moment, but where there is a long-term horizon and they are looking at solid assets where there is potential value [there’s still interest],” Mr Vines said.
“There’s still a huge amount of people out there with money who are willing to spend it.”
Built in 1891, the Blacksmiths’ Workshop was the last waterfront property to be put on the market at Breakfast Point.
Thompson Health Care buys in Beecroft
Mr Vines also sold a former nursing home in the north-western suburb of Beecroft this week to Thompson Health Care, which is set to resume aged-care services at the site.
The property, which has been vacant since May last year, sold for $11.695 million. Land value alone was around $9 million, according to Mr Vines.
Thompson Health Care operates 13 properties in NSW, from the Southern Highlands to the mid-North Coast.
The 6152-square-metre site had been shopped around off market last year by Mr Vines and Colliers International’s George Koumoukelis on behalf of Anglicare, with “three or four” parties, including a developer, showing interest.
“We took it to some groups at the end of last year and put into due diligence over Christmas and then it went unconditional at the end of February,” Mr Vines said.
The property consists of a single building with multiple wings.
The front of the property is a heritage building with the remainder purpose-built during the 2000s.
Mr Vines said there had been a huge amount of activity in the aged-care sector in western Sydney over the past 12 months, although COVID-19 might present future challenges for the sector.
“I think the aged-care sector has been hugely active in the past 12 months, with operators looking to expand their operations in strategic locations. There will be a tightening in that market … in the past 18 months I’ve sold seven or eight pieces of land for aged care,” he said.
