Liverpool Centrelink office at 211 Northumberland St sells for $52.5 million
This southwest Sydney city has set a new record for the highest commercial property sale in the CBD. The sale now puts a question mark over the future of the Centrelink building.
Liverpool
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The future of Liverpool’s Centrelink office is up in the air after the building out of which it operates was sold to a Chinese investor.
The Federal Government’s lease at 211 Northumberland St, Liverpool will expire in December 2022 and it is unclear where Centrelink will be based thereafter.
“As our leases come up for renewal, we take the opportunity to review our servicing options to ensure we continue to keep pace with the changing needs of the community,” Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen said.
The 7645sq m four-storey commercial building was sold to a private Chinese investment group for a whopping $52.5 million — the highest property sale in Liverpool to date.
“It represents the largest transaction from a dollar figure within Liverpool CBD ... so prior to that my understanding is that the top sale was $36 million or thereabouts, which was for the Liverpool Plaza,” Ray White commercial western Sydney managing director Peter Vines said.
He said the sale of the building had attracted a large volume of enquiries at a time when there was “exceptionally strong” interest in the commercial investment market and international investors were looking at Australia as a “safe haven”.
Compared to Parramatta, Liverpool was emerging as a city of opportunities for investors, he said.
“They’re looking at the story within those geographics and Liverpool has a very good story to tell, obviously for a number of reasons, but the money being spent on infrastructure ... including the (Western Sydney International) airport and population growth is very much an encouraging story.”
Mr Vines also pointed to the $740 million redevelopment of Liverpool Hospital and the Moorebank Intermodal as contributing to the city’s positive narrative.
He said it made “sense” for Centrelink to remain at the site, which had development value in the long-term.