Gosford is regarded as the regional capital of the Central Coast and is conveniently positioned at the southern gateway to the Central Coast, some 70kms north of Sydney and 95kms southwest of Newcastle.

The area is set to become a focal point for regional employment, as well as cultural and retail activity under the Gosford City Centre Masterplan, which outlines the framework for the rejuvenation of the City Centre to help achieve a residential target of an additional 10,000 residents and 6,000 new jobs by 2031.

Strategically located in Gosford’s CBD, the combined sale of 280 Mann Street and 290-300 Mann Street, Gosford, is the largest development site sale in the Gosford CBD over the past 12 months and reflects strong developer appetite for this growing regional hub.

The deal was brokered by Andrew Palmer, Ollie Ridley, Steven Lerche and Nick Lower from Savills Australia who said the campaign drew significant interest from both developers and investors across NSW and also from Brisbane and Melbourne.

According to Andrew Palmer, Associate Director, Retail Investments at Savills Australia, “The sale reflects sustained demand for well positioned assets across regional NSW, even during Australia’s longest period of lockdown.

“The profile of enquiry ranged considerably, with many parties looking at the investment fundamentals as a chance to diversify their current holdings, whilst developers saw the obvious opportunity in a growing regional centre” he said.

280 Mann Street is a fully leased office building with a diverse tenant profile, with the added benefit of being positioned on a 2,211 sq m* site just to the north of Gosford Train Station. 290-300 Mann Street comprised a vacant retail building, a multi-let retail warehouse and a large on-grade car park.

The combined sites had an existing DA approval for a multi-storey mixed-use development comprising ground floor retail and 219 residential apartments but were offered to market either individually or in-one-line. Both properties were sold on an individual basis to residential developers looking to capitalise on the favourable mixed-use zoning, central Gosford location and the potential to submit a new DA specific to each site.

Ollie Ridley, Associate, Capital Transactions at Savills Australia said “Being offered for sale for the first time in close to 20 years, these properties provided a rare opportunity to secure a significant landholding in a commanding CBD location with multiple income streams and an existing DA.”

“With the current lockdown and restrictions due to COVID-19 reducing supply levels across NSW, we found the appetite from buyers to be incredibly strong with the campaign generating close to record enquiry levels.”

“Individually these assets offered compelling opportunities, with 280 Mann Street generating a circa 6.5% return and 290-300 Mann Street offering a 2,860 sq m* landholding with a 126m* frontage” he said.

*Approximate