Cronulla Owners Fetch $38.2m for Apartment Block

Thirty individual owners of an apartment block in Sydney have walked away with a share of $38.2 million after collectively selling their apartments in one line.

Pitt Street Partners, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Company, purchased the two three-storey red-brick residential blocks at 37 Gerrale Street Cronulla after hitting the market in June this year with hopes of achieving around the $40 million mark.

The amalgamated property, comprising 30 two-bedroom apartments, has a combined site area of 1,746 square metres.

JLL’s Dylan McEvoy and Ben Hunter managed the transaction.

“Throughout the past 12 months we have noticed a change in buyer appetite from offshore to local buyers of premium development sites,” Hunter said.

Rising land prices in the beachside suburb combined with demand for mixed-use sites, attracted interest from institutional developers, vertical retirement operators as well as builders and developers, according to McEvoy.

“Given the premium for combined sales prices compared to individual unit sale prices... [in] this instance some owners almost doubled their money by amalgamating together,” McEvoy said.

“It’s almost unheard of to see a strata property of this scale offered in one line in such a prime location.”

Down the road, McEvoy amalgamated four blocks of flats involving 32 owners at 49-55 Gerrale street Cronulla for $54 million in 2017.

“We are witnessing a renewed willingness from developers who are expressing a preference for well-located sites in strong demographic areas like Cronulla,” McEvoy said.