Warehouse sale breaks Surry Hills record as prestige buyers take on hipsters

A Surry Hills warehouse has sold for $7.95 million at auction, breaking the inner-city suburb record and putting it into the league of Sydney’s most prestigious suburbs.

The 780-square-metre four-bedroom three-level warehouse in Bennett Place sold to a Sydney family at auction yesterday for well above the price guide of around $7 million.

It attracted interest internationally and from across Sydney, including strong interest from expats and Chinese buyers in Hong Kong.

“People love the warehouse style of living, it’s the new chic,” said Harriet France who listed the property along with Tony Barron of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty.

“There is plenty of light, high ceilings and the convenience of inner-city living,” France said.

It tops the previous record, also for a designer warehouse in nearby Davies Street which sold for $7.55 million in 2015.

The Bennett Place warehouse, a mid-19th century building that had undergone a transformation by designers Hare & Klein, and featured a four-car garage, artist’s studio, large open-plan living areas with lofty ceiling and industrial highlights such as timber beams and original floors. A third level housed four large bedrooms.

Domain chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson said such a large property in an area dominated by smaller terraces and apartments made it a unique buy and one that could command a high price.

“A warehouse gives you the size in an area where the normal residential allotment is a lot smaller,” Dr Wilson said.

“The beauty of a warehouse in Surry Hills is that you are getting size in an area where size is at a premium.”

The property also sits in a suburb that have seen strong growth in the median house price in recent times.    

“Surry Hills has seen 61.4 per cent growth over the last five years, 10 per cent over the last years and 3.6 per cent over the last six months,” Dr Wilson said.

Around the world converted warehouses, including in New York’s downtown and London’s Docklands have become the new executive home of choice and attracted top prices. 

The Bennett Place warehouse also held the suburb record the last two times it traded, for $5.71 million in 2012 and $3.1 million in 2009.

The warehouses of Surry Hills once housed the city’s rag-trade industry. But today the factory floors have become both designer houses and apartments that are selling at top prices and include vast living areas and luxurious features.

A heart-shaped pool was the centrepiece of 450-square-metre converted warehouse that traded hands for $7.55 million in 2015.

Meanwhile apartments built in former factories in Surry Hills such as The Griffin Tea Building have been quickly snapped up.

All 38 apartments in The Griffin Tea Building sold out in one day in August 2015, and attracted 5000 registrations to buy.

The Surry Hills warehouse sale comes on a day where competition remained strong for the smaller number of properties on offer.

The property was one of about 540 scheduled to go under the hammer across the city on Saturday, the first day of the spring selling season. 

With 410 results in by Saturday evening, Domain Group put the clearance rate at 80 per cent.

Among those was the sale of three-bedroom apartment at Bondi Beach, which sold for $221,000 over reserve and a knock-down property in Clovelly that sold for $3.905.

Young families from Clovelly and nearby Randwick dominated the crowd at the Clovelly auction of the home held by one family for 60 years. “It’s on a 550-square-metre block and has good ocean views, but everyone looking at it is viewing it as a knock down,” said Adrian Bo, of McGrath Coogee.

Five groups battled it out in the auction, with a family from the same suburb spending $605,000 more than the reserve.

At the Bondi Beach apartment listing agent Jason Pantzer of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley said the property had primarily attracted young couples. And they were among the 15 groups who registered to bid for the property which eventually sold for $1,421,000, to an owner-occupier.

Pantzer said the three-bedroom apartment set over two levels was an attractive buy for those who had been priced out of the semi market.

Just weeks earlier he had sold a two-bedroom semi without parking also in Bondi for $1.94 million.

“This place has three bedrooms and is half a million less,”  Pantzer said.

He said the inclusion of an attic addition, to allow a third bedroom, could also add big dollars.

“If this property didn’t have a second floor it would sell for a million dollars,” he said.

Amongst those attending the auction were couple Renee and James Gia and their baby son Cooper. The family said they had been looking to buy for a year after moving from Brisbane. They said that originally apartments had not been on their radar but rising Sydney prices now made them an option.

“An apartment is a good alternative,” Renee said.