Warehouse conversions are blowing the budget

ORIGINAL and converted warehouses have become hot property in Sydney.

One of the weekend’s strongest sales on Saturday was in a warehouse conversion in Alexandria. The two-bedroom apartment at 20/111 McEvoy Street sold under the hammer for $715,000 – $30,000 above the reserve. It was the highest price paid for a two-bedroom flat in Alexandria this year and it outstripped the median for two-bedroom flats by more than $150,000.

Selling agent Dominic Kuneman from BresicWhitney was surprised at the competition between the three interested parties. ”Bidding started at $600,000 and they were going nuts between them,” he said.

A former stamp factory at 11-13 Phelps Street, Surry Hills, recently sold for $2.56 million. The three-bedroom home designed by architects Mark Hurcum and Nick Turner surpassed the previous record for the street by $1,285,000. In Camperdown, a three-bedroom converted warehouse at 37 St Marys Street recently sold for $1,522,000.

But in terms of original-condition warehouses, many residential occupiers are being pipped at the post by commercial parties. Last week a former post office at 2-4 Shepherd Street, Chippendale, sold for $1,477,000 to a retail developer after strong interest from residential buyers.