An office block in Wollongong's CBD has made history by netting the highest price for a commercial building in the city.
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The site at 45 Kembla Street - which houses the Australian Taxation Office, blood bank, a cafe and ANZ bank - has been bought by Melbourne property fund manager Castlerock for more than $55 million.
The site, completed in 2014, features 6761 square metres over five storeys.
It was bought from Black Opal Bay, a private Wollongong consortium, with the sale negotiated by Knight Frank.
A spokesman for Castlerock said the sale marked a commercial building record for Wollongong, beating the previous record sale of 90 Crown Street which sold for $50.38 million in 2019.
Castlerock CEO Hank Bronts said his company had bought the building - the firm's first in NSW - due to its secure government tenant as well as Wollongong's growing office market.
"In a COVID-19 environment and the economic recession it has caused, to have secure rental income from government tenants is extremely reassuring to our investors," he said.
"Acquiring this property in Wollongong has allowed us to diversify the tenant and geographical mix, with the opportunity to buy in Wollongong particularly attractive given the consistent growth of the city's office market in recent years."
Several new office buildings are currently under construction, with hopes they will help to bring more people into the CBD.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
