Shrouded in mystique, One Alfred Street seeks out wealthiest of purchasers
Pricey apartments in the Goldfields House development site are being sold to multimillionaire Sydney buyers in a by-invitation-only marketing campaign. The coveted 25-storey Sydney property overlooking Circular Quay has some of the best views in town and has been mooted for a luxury residential redevelopment for the past few years.
It’s one of the oldest office blocks on Circular Quay. Property agents say the value of apartments in and around Circular Quay would be upwards of $34,000 per square metre.
Apartments overlooking the Opera House have sold for as much as $16 million.
The One Alfred Street, Circular Quay site has been in Valad's development pipeline for some years. There have been delays, as Valad was among the harder-hit real estate investment trusts during the global financial crisis. The building is designed by Kerry Hill.
Before its takeover by the US firm Blackstone, Valad lodged a development application to redevelop Goldfields House into a $1 billion upmarket apartment block with new ground-floor retailing.
In 2008 the office tower faced the looming threat from developers wanting to turn key harbourside office skyscraper into luxury residential abodes.
Several buildings, including the Scullers Arms hotel, were demolished to make way for Goldfields House at 1 Alfred Street, which was designed by Peddle Thorp and Walker and completed in 1966.
The proposal has provisional approval from the NSW Heritage Council, given the works are within metres of the Tank Stream.
The Quay apartment block on Phillip Street was the first harbourfront residential venture following the slump in the city office market in the early 1980s.
But its developer, Trustees Executors, went into liquidation during the 1983 credit squeeze and John Lewis's Concrete Constructions took over the project.
There are now about 100 residential blocks throughout the city, up from 28 in 1994.
The Astor on Macquarie Street was Sydney's most prestigious high-rise block when it was completed in 1923.
Since the project received development approval in May from the state government, the One Alfred Street apartments have been quietly marketed to wealthy investors in Asia.
It compared the rarity of the offering to an original Ford GT40, a 19th-century Chateau d'Yquem or a 14th century Yuan dynasty vase.
The latest market campaign says One Alfred Street is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” The viewing platform will be available on a strictly invitation-only basis from November 2011.
In August it was reported that the upmarket London developer Nick Candy, known for One Hyde Park, the world's glitziest apartment blocks in the well-heeled London suburb of Knightsbridge, met executives from US private equity giant at which the development was discussed.
A Candy spokesperson has confirmed that he met Blackstone executives, but would not comment on "specific deals".
Previously local developers including Grocon, Lang Walker, Mirvac and Lend Lease had previously expressed an interest in joint venturing the site.
Valad bought it in 2006 for $274 million and sold a 40% stake to the Dutch pension fund APG in 2008.
In May, when Blackstone’s takeover offer was mooted, Valad said that the Sydney Local Environment Plan 2005 (Amendment No. 2), which was previously approved by the Sydney City Council, had been gazetted by the government.
''This enables Valad to pursue development approval for the redevelopment of Goldfields House,'' Valad's then acting chief executive Clem Salwin said.
