The last retail opportunity amongst Sydney’s Opera House, with a front-row seat to Sydney Harbour including 38 metres of waterfront frontage, is being taken to the market with a price guide circa $50 million.
The Opera Retail offering at 71 Macquarie Street, over four floors of the recently-completed Opera Residences, consists of five opulent retail spaces totalling 1,746m2 with 38 metres of waterfront frontage.
Four tenants have been confirmed for the precinct, which will have a grand opening in July, including Japanese teppanyaki fine dining restaurant and bar OBOROZUKI, a trendy ground floor café, award-winning international restaurant chain, IPPUDO Ramen and upmarket Opera Ice Creamery.
The retail space is being sold by the developer behind Opera Residences, Macrolink and Landream, via an Expressions of Interest campaign run by Knight Frank agents Dominic Ong and Linda Zhu, along with Colliers’ agent Joseph Lin and Auschain agent Sean Huang.
Ong said it was anticipated there would be strong buyer interest in the spectacular waterfront dining and retail centre, from both domestic and international investors, due to the rarity of the offering and its prime location.
“This high-end retail space is arguably the best real estate in Australia, with a front-row seat to Sydney Harbour and just a short walk from the Opera House,” he said.
“It is in the most iconic location in Sydney, making it one of Australia’s most visited destinations and a key transport hub in the heart of the city.
“The offering is also situated within one of the most luxurious residential developments in the city, the Opera Residences.”
The 104 apartments in Opera Residences sold off the plan within two hours of their 2016 launch, with $550 million in sales recorded in a single day and six record-breaking sales. Recent resales in the development have reportedly seen prices increases of between 20 and 30%.
The Opera Residences development has been shortlisted for the Multi-Residential Category in the 2022 NSW AIA Awards, as well as being a finalist in the High-Density Development category in the Urban Taskforce Australia 2022 Development Excellence Awards, the High-Density Residential category in the 2022 Urban Developer Awards for Industry Excellence and in the 2022 Architizer A+ Awards.
Lin said Opera Retail was the last retail centre along East Circular Quay, and could be viewed as an intergenerational investment. He said a neighbouring retail space to the Opera Retail offering, at Lot 10 & 11, 1A Macquarie Street sold separately this year for an extraordinary price of $154,000 and $133,000 per sqm respectively, demonstrating that demand for prime retail space in Sydney was strong.
“This type of asset is one that will be tightly held by any buyer given its capacity to hold and increase its value,” Huang said.
“Apart from its long-term potential, the investment is underpinned by its stable income, with the space having long and secure leases.”
