New life for Charter Hall Cremorne commercial holding
A luxury apartment complex that will replace a demolished commercial building on the border of Mosman and Cremorne on the Sydney north shore will be marketed off the plan by CBRE agent Paul Tutt.
“Esque” will incorporate 29 apartments in a four-storey complex at 100 Glover Street on the edge of Cremorne Junction on the North Sydney shore.
It is being developed by Sydney-based developer Helm, which paid $9.8 million for the 1,906-square-metre, three-storey commercial building in September 2010.
It was sold with the development application by the Charter Hall Diversified Property Fund at 10% above the book value in a deal negotiated by Simon Fenn and Stuart Cox of CBRE and Geoff Smith and Tim Abbott of LJ Hooker Mosman.
The fund bought the building for $10.3 million in June 2007 in a deal negotiated by Jones Lang LaSalle. It was leased by EMI up until 2011 as its state headquarters with a yield of 8%.
The sale of the site to developer Helm for $9.8 million equated to $280,000 per unit site, according to CBRE agent Stuart Cox.
In February 2002 it was bought by the Kador Group for $8.1 million.
The commercial building, the former state headquarters of music group EMI, has been completely demolished to make way for the apartment complex.
Construction will begin in November and is due for completion in early 2013.
The project has been designed by Peter Conley, the architect behind Abode Property’s Sanctum at Cronulla, winner of the HIA’s 2010 National Award for Australian Apartment Project of the Year.
Helm is seeking prices in excess of $1.35 million for a three-bedroom unit, $875,000 for a two-bedroom unit and $565,000 for a one-bedroom unit.
The four three-bedroom penthouses range in size from 127 to 167 square metres internally (plus 28- to 124-square-metre balconies) and 10 three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 110 to 136 square metres (plus 21- to 28-square-metre balconies).
The five two-bedroom apartments range in size from 84 to 91 square metres, and the 10 one-bedroom apartments range in size from 52 to 74 square metres internally, excluding balconies.
Sustainability will be a key feature, with the design incorporating a 75,000-litre underground tank to harvest rainwater. The recycled water will be used for landscaping irrigation as well as providing water for car wash bays.
Other green features include a range of passive energy saving innovations, urban ecology techniques and permaculture initiatives.
Apartments on the eastern side of the upper floors will gain views of Sydney Harbour.
The development is close to the cosmopolitan Military Road retail strip, which includes the Art Deco Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace and is due for completion in early 2013. Construction is due to start in November.
Esque will feature handcrafted face bricks, glass balustrades, a combination of fixed and moveable louvre screens and a naturally weathered zinc tactile outer “skin”.
Other noteworthy features include a lobby of textured bluestone flooring and a feature wall of Pietra marble, intimate garden spaces and a four-storey high wall of evergreen climbing plants.
According to Mark Monk, general manager of Helm, the apartments will be ideal for those buyers who want to live in a spacious apartment close to the city.