Savills To Sell Sydney Opera House Car Park

The Sydney Opera House Car Park is the second largest in Sydney with 1,176 parking bays in operation, and was acquired by Mariner in November 2004 as the sole asset for the Mariner Infrastructure Trust No. 1.

Bill Ireland, Executive Chairman of Mariner Financial, said ‘we are pleased to announce the appointment of Savills as the agents for the sale of the Sydney Opera House Car Park on behalf of the Trust’s unit-holders.’

Mr Ireland said Mariner has added significant value to the Sydney Opera House Car Park, increasing operating revenue by more than 40% over the past 3 years.

‘This landmark asset is in an area that enjoys significant twenty-four-seven activity, and where few new public car parks are being created’ he said.

Savills Director of Capital Transactions, Peter Whitaker, and former National Director of Research, Chris Freeman, are running the sales campaign.

Mr Whitaker said the Opera House Car Park is a landmark asset, the likes of which rarely becomes available to the market and is sure to attract strong interest.

‘We are aware of a number of institutional investors that are actively seeking infrastructure investments. They would be hard pressed to find a more secure investment offering significant long term capital upside than this,’ said Mr Whitaker.

‘Because this is combined with the property’s iconic location, which is instantly recognisable the world over, we are also expecting substantial interest from offshore parties and we will therefore be marketing the property through Savills’ international network’ he continued.

Mr Whitaker said with Council very reluctant to approve significant amounts of new parking in the CBD, supply of commercial parking spaces is growing at a significantly slower pace than employment which will put upward pressure on car bay prices going forward.

‘In such a climate, this is likely to be the last opportunity to secure an asset of this nature,’ he said.

The Sydney Opera House Car Park has a forecast year 1 net income of $8.3m and comparable sales of Sydney CBD car parks have shown yields around 6.5%.

Mr Freeman said the car park has had exceptional earnings growth, averaging 11.2% annually over the past 4 years, and the extent of supply restrictions should see the asset continue to perform strongly.

‘Over the past 5 years car bay supply has been so restricted in the Sydney CBD Core that only one bay has been added for every 3,227sqm increase in office absorption – or around one for every 215 new employees,’ Mr Freeman said.

‘With planned office developments in the CBD Core requiring the demolition of existing parking bays to consolidate sites, this trend shows no sign of abating and pricing pressure is sure to continue,’ he said.

source : Savills