A major development site in Sydney's Haymarket is for sale by private owners Goulburn Property, with a price tag of about $100 million.
It comes as a number of major deals, worth over $1.5 billion combined, are nearing completion in the lead-up to the end of the financial year.
One of the most anticipated is 77 Market Street, the David Jones men's wear store. The list of buyers has been short-listed with Scentre Group said to be a very interested party.
Recently Charter Hall jointly acquired with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing 100 per cent of 1 Shelley Street, Sydney. The purchase price was $525 million for the property which is leased to Macquarie Bank.
Brookfield was the vendor and will use some of the funds for its Wynyard Place project. Other possible sales include a half share of the KPMG building in Darling Harbour.
To take advantage of the high demand for stable, income-generating bricks and mortar, CBRE has been appointed to sell the Haymarket on George site, a 1238 square metre parcel, which the agents say has "significant development potential".
The private Goulburn Property has owned the site on the corner of George and Goulburn streets, directly opposite World Square, for a number of years.
The Haymarket parcel is an amalgamation of three sites being 51-57 Goulburn Street, 43-49 Goulburn Street and 698-704 George Street. It also includes the Scruffy Murphy pub, which has a high turnover, but could be redeveloped into retail and the Haymarket House heritage site.
CBRE's Richard Butler, Mark Hansen, Sharon Yang and Daniel Dragicevich have been appointed to sell the land holding.
Mr Butler said the property represented a "prized development opportunity" in Sydney.
"Given its close proximity to Chinatown and Town Hall, the Haymarket and Sydney entertainment area [it] is one of the most tightly held districts in the city, with assets in this area normally held for generations," Mr Butler said.
"This sale represents a rare offering to acquire one of the last sites in this sought after area and, as such, we expect widespread buyer interest from offshore and domestic buyers."
The site, which could be potentially expanded with the addition of further George Street properties, holds scope to support a mixed retail, serviced apartment and residential development of up to 41 levels.
Mr Butler said the properties' development potential would spark strong purchaser interest.
"The development of units or serviced apartments on the site would generate substantial interest from the market as would a retail component or hotel project in this prominent CBD location," Mr Butler said.
Mr Hansen said the property was also strategically positioned to capitalise on the recent Sydney light rail upgrades along George Street.
"The surrounding area has been significantly upgraded by the CBD and south-east light rail project, with retailers reporting a significant uplift in turnover since the removal of buses from George Street in 2015," Mr Hansen said.
"In further evidence of the strong appeal of the area, which boasts the nation's most densely populated 1km radius zone, a 50 per cent interest in the retail component of World Square was recently sold and achieved one of the tightest cap rates in Australian retail history."
Led by infrastructure investment, the area is undergoing a structural change and is fast becoming one of Sydney's most highly desirable precincts.
