Surry Hills liquor barn to become $50m boutique offices
Clifton Development Group, a new business spun out of non-bank lender AltX, has acquired a landmark Surry Hills liquor warehouse with plans to convert it into boutique $50 million office building.
It is understood Clifton, led by developers Grant Price and Chris Howard, has agreed to pay more than $20 million for the 444 square metre site at 9-13 Brisbane Street.
For more than five decades, the building has been home to international liquor importer and retailer Goulburn Wine & Spirits, founded in 1961 by the Gerendasi family.
This is set to change with Clifton’s intending to develop the site, which has been sought after by developers for many years into a “cutting edge, boutique office building” with an end value of between $40 and $50 million.
The project will look to leverage off the property’s prime location – a corner site bordering the Sydney CBD, close to Hyde Park, Museum Station and all the trendy bars and restaurants of the area.
It will target tenants predominantly from the tech and creative industries with floor plates of 350 square metres.
Paul Ephron of Ballard Property brokered the sale.
There is currently very low vacancy in Sydney’s fringe office market, while recent sales in Surry Hill have reflected strong underlying land values.
According to Colliers International, A-grade office space in the city fringe is just 2.6 per cent or 5780 square metres out of total A-grade stock of 221,812 square metres.
Last December, an office building at 10-14 Waterloo Street in Surry Hills sold for $78.7 million on a yield of 4.25 per cent.
Clifton was aiming to acquire upmarket residential and commercial development sites as well as add value when it sees opportunities in the prestigious areas of metropolitan Sydney and the eastern seaboard, a spokesman said.
