It’s a Paradox. Trump Tower developer rebrands Sydney’s Radisson

The sandstone building at 27 O’Connell Street which covers the block to Pitt Street was built in 1856. After the Fairfax business vacated, it served as the Bank of New South Wales, then as a Westpac Bank before beginning its life in hospitality as the five-star Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in 2000.

Malaysian-based TA Global has owned the property since 1997 and plans to expand the Paradox brand around the world. The group is run by one of Malaysia’s richest families and has a global portfolio of hotels in five countries including Canada, Singapore, China and Thailand.

Joo Kim was appointed chief executive at just 36, overseeing the company’s portfolio, including the development of Canada’s then Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver.

The rebrand will start on July 1 under the guardianship of the hotel’s long-standing general manager Peter Tudehope, who is the former chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW.

Farm sale

NSW Farmers is testing the market with the listing of two commercial assets on Sydney’s lower north shore.

Sitting at 154 Pacific Highway, Greenwich and 40 Oxley Street, St Leonards, the corner properties are close to transport and the Royal North Shore Hospital. NSW Farmers is the voice of the sector and will use the funds to support its members in other areas.

No price guide is available but a similar property at 126 Pacific Highway was purchased by Central Element for $17 million in April 2024.

The 10-storey office tower at 154 Pacific Highway occupies a 3080 square metre area, while 40 Oxley Street is a 3-storey site of 2600 sq m and comes with planning controls including a 64 metre height limit.

Colliers national directors Tom Appleby, Joseph Lin and Guillaume Volz are managing the two sales.

Gem of an idea

Regional pub baron Jim Knox is selling his Gem Hotel in Griffith with price expectations of $50 million-plus.

The 65-room freehold hotel on a 2547 sq m site has a hatted restaurant, gaming machines and a late licence. Griffith sits in the NSW Riverina and has a favourable one-pub-per-7000-residents ratio – well above state averages.

There has been an increase in demand for regional pubs and hotels, and Knox has taken advantage of the market, having sold his nearby Area Hotel in Griffith last year for $30 million after paying $8 million for it in 2019.

Other large-scale pub deals include the Robin Hood, Orange, which sold for $47.4 million. The Windsor Castle in Maitland changed hands for $50.5 million, and the Port Macquarie Hotel went for $53 million. All deals were managed by HTL Property.

Xavier Plunkett and Andrew Jolliffe of HTL Property are selling the Gem on behalf of Knox.

Sales back

Pittwater Industrial has expanded its footprint with an off-market deal for a newly constructed property in Sydney’s west for $18.25 million.

Located at 2 Hume Road, Smithfield, the industrial facility is secured by a long-term lease to global manufacturing giant 3M. It was built in 2024 by developer Skylife and is fully leased.

Pittwater Industrial was formed in 2021 by former Urbanest directors Ted Hawkins and Dave Munro and last year the group paid $39 million for a 2.48 hectare site with a warehouse at Ingleburn.

The latest deal, on an initial yield of 4.71 per cent on passing income, was negotiated by Elijah Shakir from ReVest Property Group.

In another sign that private investors are coming back to the market, albeit slowly, two unit blocks have been sold in one day at auction for more than $13 million.

A nine-bedroom apartment block on an 808 sq m landholding at 143 Clovelly Road in Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, sold for $9.1 million, while a six-unit block at 33-35 Kensington Road in Summer Hill in Sydney’s inner west went for $4.03 million.

Both properties were purchased by local high-net-worth investors adding to their existing portfolios.

The Randwick property auction was run by Knight Frank agents James Masselos, Demi Carigliano and Anthony Pirrottina, while Knight Frank agents Adam Droubi and James Masselos ran the Summer Hill campaign.