In North Sydney, 12 strata owners have banded together to sell a nine-level commercial building which has the potential to be converted into residential apartments. Price expectations are about $40 million.

The 12 Mount Street site is being sold by CBRE’s Ben Wicks, James Parry and Angus Windred. They said that without substantial upgrades or capital expenditure, commercial buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are no longer satisfying the needs of tenants.

“The softening in commercial values and increase in vacancy levels is providing an opportunity to obtain vacant possession to redevelop,” Wicks said.

Windred added that growing number of building owners, both in Australia and globally, are looking to repurpose existing buildings for better uses, including converting them to residences rather than knocking them down and rebuilding.

“With existing commercial strata buildings becoming increasingly costly to manage and requiring significant capital upgrades, we are seeing an increase trend in owners banding together to sell as an amalgamation,” Windred said.

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