It’s an unusual pocket of land on a Sydney street populated with multimillion-dollar homes, including historic sandstone residences. And it’s searching for a new owner.
But what exactly can be done with the axe-shaped property on the exclusive Hunters Hill peninsula is a puzzle.
Nestled between two houses in Foss Street, Hunters Hill, is a piece of land up for sale.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The 164-square-metre block between Alexandra and Foss streets in the heart of the waterside enclave boasts dual street access. It also has a green Ausgrid “kiosk” – a small electricity substation – atop it that will remain in use.
The property is one of a number of former Ausgrid sites in sought-after suburbs on Sydney’s north shore, including Longueville, Castlecrag and Chatswood, that are on the market.
The estimated value of the Hunters Hill land was $259,000 as at July 1 last year, or $1579 per square metre, according to NSW Valuer General figures. Bigger blocks in the street are valued at well over double or triple that sum per square metre. The valuations exclude structures.
Belle Property’s Simon Harrison, the listing agent for the properties, said the Hunters Hill land was “probably one of the more challenging of the sites that are available” but “they’re all attracting quite similar buyer interest”.
“In my 25 years I’ve never sold anything like them,” Harrison said.
“There’s some interest in almost all of them from one or more of the neighbours. That would make sense for those neighbours to land bank and increase the foothold of their existing dwelling.”
Harrison said the properties were also attracting interest from “first home buyers and just mum and dad-type buyers who are looking at it as an entry into fairly affluent suburbs”. The size of the blocks made the price “very affordable for those areas based on other sales around them”.
“Those buyers are then assessing what they can actually do there. Almost all of the inquiries that we’re receiving from buyers are [whether they] can do some kind of dwelling.
Movement at the (sub)station
A series of former Ausgrid sites in prized suburbs on Sydney’s north shore are slated for auction in coming weeks, including:
- Foss Street, Hunters Hill
- Charles Street, Castlecrag
- Boomerang Street, Turramurra
- Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
- Currawong Avenue, Lane Cove
- Kenneth Street, Longueville
- High Street, Willoughby
“But they are restricted because they’re obviously small sites, you’ve got the various standard council building restrictions ... [and] there’s an electrical kiosk on the site, so there’s an easement that’s created around that.
“It’s not for everyone. You’re going to have to be creative in terms of what you build. But there are some people with good imaginations and looking to take on the opportunity.”
Some of the sites, including in Lane Cove (499 square metres) and Willoughby (227 square metres), are on larger blocks.
“People are talking about doing two-bedroom bachelor-style properties and things like that,” Harrison said.
Nicholas Taylor-Fick, a buyers’ agent with Propertybuyer who specialises in Sydney’s north shore, inner west and Hills District, said the Hunters Hill property was “unusual”. As in every case, the value of the land would be assessed by considering “the highest and best use of the land”.
“To me, it has more value to an adjoining owner. I can’t see how it’s going to be potentially redeveloped because of the size of the land and the shape of it,” he said.
The two street frontages would be “a real bonus if the land was bigger”, Taylor-Fick said.
Neighbours snapped up a similar property in nearby Gale Street, Woolwich. The owners of a multimillion-dollar terrace with harbour views bought the former Ausgrid site next door for $320,000 in 2023. They want to extend the home into the 126-square-metre space.
A smaller kiosk substation is expected to be installed on the Woolwich site, allowing a larger brick structure impeding redevelopment to be dismantled.
The Woolwich terrace and the adjoining land.Credit: Hunters Hill Council
An Ausgrid spokesperson said the electricity distribution company “regularly reviews the land it owns with a view to disposing of properties that are no longer fully in use by the network”.
The Hunters Hill property “was formerly an Ausgrid asset and is one of a number of past Ausgrid sites currently on the market”.
“Disposal of surplus properties reduces ongoing maintenance and holding costs which leads to lower power bills for Ausgrid customers.”
The spokesperson said the properties were sometimes sold with “operational assets still in place ... such as the green electrical kiosks”.
“Whilst these assets will still be maintained by Ausgrid, the remainder of the land will be unlocked for a range of uses, subject to zoning and council approvals.
“Feedback from past and prospective purchases suggest there are a wide range of potential uses for old Ausgrid sites that could be appropriate, including parking spaces, art studios, granny flats, hobby spaces, community gardens and even small cafes.”
The Hunters Hill property is zoned low-density residential. A council spokesperson said that “council has minimum lot sizes for subdivision … ranging from 700 square metres to 1000 square metres”.
“Council also has significant planning controls that would affect any proposed development. Potential purchasers should make their own enquiries on the development potential of the site.”
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