Capital Gain
A heritage-listed ferry converted into a floating restaurant and docked at Berrys Bay near McMahons Point is for sale with a reported price tag of around $2.5 million.
The SS South Steyne completed more than 100,000 trips across Sydney Harbour from Manly to Circular Quay, carrying about 92 million passengers before it was decommissioned as an operating ferry in 1974.
Now, its 30-year owner Bruce McDermott is selling up. No price was disclosed but it’s reputed to be worth around $2.5 million.
Built in Leith, Scotland, in 1938, the steamship is the last of its kind in the world. It served as Queen Elizabeth II’s royal yacht in Melbourne before the 67-metre vessel was fitted out as a function centre in 1988.
It was later moved back to Sydney as a floating convention and hospitality venue, an information and exhibition centre for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and a restaurant and function centre at Darling Harbour.
At its current berth since 2016, the vessel has three decks, four function and exhibition areas and a restaurant with capacity for more than 500 guests. The main deck includes the ship’s boardroom, saloon lounge and restaurant, together with al fresco outer-deck seating, selling agents Colliers’ Jackie Su and Harry Mitchell said.
Cinema for sale
The rumours are true – the historic Roseville Cinema, one of Sydney’s oldest continuously operating independent cinemas and a landmark on the north shore, is for sale for the first time in more than half a century.
It is being sold at the behest of court-appointed trustee William Buck Australia’s Michael Brereton. The property was purchased by the Van Pinxteren family in 1974.
A report in July suggested the property, along with an adjacent retail, office and residential building on a combined landholding of 1077 square metre at 110-116 Pacific Highway in Roseville, might be put up for sale after a dispute among the owners.
No price was disclosed by Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin and Joshua Baruch, who, with McGrath Lindfield’s James Sutton, are handling the sale.
The 640 square metre building at 112-116 Pacific Highway, which has two cinema theatres, was originally constructed in 1912 as the Roseville Hall. It served as a community gathering place for concerts, dances and events.
During World War I, the hall became the first Australian centre used to recruit soldiers before evolving into a picture theatre from around 1918-1919. The building was transformed into its distinctive art deco style in 1936.
The adjoining 260 sq m building at 110 Pacific Highway has a ground-floor retail tenancy, first-floor office space and a two-bedroom residence, returning about $99,000 per annum.
Hotel deals
In a big move for the booming hotel sector, global hotel chain IHG has struck a development agreement with ALAND to build at least 15 Staybridge Suites hotels with 2000 rooms.
The first two projects are already signed: a 130-room Staybridge Suites Sydney in Parramatta and another 112-room Staybridge Suites Sydney in Leppington.
The two hotels are the first phase of the national portfolio. IHG and ALAND’s partnership was cemented with the recent opening of the 130-room voco Gosford in ALAND’s Archibald precinct.
Under the new deal, all 15 hotels will be managed by a third party, Signature Hotel Management Group, run by Dimitri Karam and his brother, Dany, who founded the brand in September 2023.
Signature already manages Novotel Cabramatta, voco Gosford and the Archibald Precinct, alongside venues Astra Bar, Archie’s, Ironbark and Paolo’s.
Meanwhile, TFE Hotels will undertake a $100 million upgrade across its Adina apartment hotels. The group’s Adina Darling Harbour has already had a revamp as a “contemporary harbourside retreat”.
Hong Kong Plaza
Two shops in Cabramatta’s Hong Kong Shopping Plaza have sold for a combined $8.24 million. The price sets a new benchmark for strata retail in the suburb with a rate closing in on some of Sydney’s trophy retail assets.
The two shops occupy just 43 sq m and 56 sq m in the Plaza and sold for $3.68 million and $4.56 million respectively. That computes to $85,581 per sq m for Shop 5 and $81,428 per sq m for Shop 6, almost double Cabramatta’s previous $46,000 retail benchmark.
The Vartuli family’s trustee, Deemhire Pty Ltd, offloaded the shops through Colliers’ Harry Bui, Andrew Bui, and Andy Yang, along with McConnell Bourn’s Eric Cao and Ann Dam.
Just for comparison, two upmarket Macquarie Street properties in Circular Quay sold at rates of $135,761 per sq m and $140,000 per sq m in January and April in 2024. No. 61-69 Macquarie Street sold for $20.5 million and 71 Macquarie Street went for $3.5 million.
carolynannecummins@gmail.com
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