Iconic Toowoomba GPO: Heritage-listed post office hits the market
It’s not every day you get the chance to buy a piece of Toowoomba’s soul. The former General Post Office (GPO) – a cornerstone of Margaret Street since the 19th century and one of the regional Queensland city’s most recognisable heritage-listed landmarks – has been listed for sale for the first time in more than 20 years.
Known for its commanding proportions and sandstone facade, the GPO is more than bricks and mortar; it’s where generations of locals have posted letters and telegrams, and it served as a key hub for communication during World War I, when many residents served on the western front.
These days, the property at 136-140 Margaret Street hums with life. It hosts a cafe and 11 professional-service tenancies, including long-term anchor tenant Murdoch Lawyers, which has called the building home since 2002.
“The building is a beautiful, iconic sandstone building in a central location in a prominent part of a booming Toowoomba,” says Matt Bell, director of business and employment law at Murdoch Lawyers.
“Our clients and people we deal with know where to find us, given the prominence of the building in a central Toowoomba CBD location.”
The two-level icon – which ceased postal operations in 1999 – has more than 1650 square metres of lettable space on a 2858-square-metre site, and is of state significance, listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
Bell says the law firm recently expanded its original 800-square-metre footprint to take another 157 square metres, and refreshed its fitout.
“The feedback we receive from our clients, staff and other professionals about our premises and the building is overwhelmingly positive,” he says.
For Murdoch Lawyers, the appeal isn’t just the history, but also the position close to “some of the best schools in the region” on the eastern side of Toowoomba, about 125 kilometres west of Brisbane.
“We are fortunate to have the GPO Bar & Cafe next door and the award-winning Fitzy’s Toowoomba – a bar, restaurant and function centre – across the road,” Bell adds.
“There is plenty of street parking at the front of the building and wheelchair access to our office via Margaret Street.”
Murdoch Lawyers recently renewed its original lease for five years with four five-year options, and committed to three years with four three-year options for its additional space.
The property has been listed for sale at an undisclosed price with LJ Hooker Commercial Toowoomba.
LJ Hooker agent Chris Stewart says what strikes him the most about the generational asset is its sandstone construction. It’s one of only two remaining sandstone buildings in the city’s CBD, the other being the 1878-built Toowoomba Court House next door, which is now being “really well redesigned”.
“A lot of red-brick buildings built after that got very long and thin in the 1920s and ’30s,” he says. “This sandstone’s very wide, so it has a really commanding frontage.
“The GPO is irreplaceable, with plenty of area onsite, and the original clock tower is still in there – albeit electric.”
Stewart says part of the sales plan was to create a vacant space for a potential owner-occupier upstairs, should they want to move in and rub shoulders with their tenants, who include psychologists, executives, engineers and financial experts.
“People who miss out are going to be pretty upset about it, I reckon,” he says.
Designed in the classical style by Queensland “colonial architect” Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, the GPO was constructed by John Gargett between 1878 and 1908, which was an era when Toowoomba was being transformed from a colonial outpost to a thriving regional city.
This period reflected a time of wealth and ambition, buoyed by the Darling Downs’ fertile soils being used for dairy, wheat and sheep grazing. It remains a rich agricultural region.
In 1867, when the railway line opened, it boosted Toowoomba’s trading potential by connecting it to Brisbane and the port of Ipswich.
It has gone from strength to strength since, becoming Queensland’s second-largest inland city, known for its extensive parks and gardens, Victorian-era architecture and leafy streets. The city hosts tourism events such as the Carnival of Flowers, which draws thousands of visitors each year.
Stewart says investors will benefit from future growth in Toowoomba, which he describes as a rapidly developing city.
“It’s a mini-Melbourne – but not as cold,” he laughs. “I genuinely believe it’s going to be one of the best, fastest-growing areas in Australia over the next 10 years.”
The property is being sold via an expressions of interest campaign closing at 4pm on October 9.
