$3m-plus could secure old Richmond Post Office

After ditching plans to convert the old Richmond Post Office into a restaurant and bar, owner millionaire financier and Mortgage Choice co-founder Peter Higgins has put the historic property up for sale.

Higgins is well known in Richmond as the owner of the Sydney Polo Club, which hosted the World Polo Championships in late 2017.

He and his wife Rebecca own about 50ha on the Hawkesbury River, part of which they reportedly attempted to sell for $20 million in 2010.

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Since 2010, Mr Higgins’ 12,685sqm waterfront property Marara at Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches has come on and off the market.

More recently, it was listed for an undisclosed price thought to be around $20 million.

The asking price for the heritage-listed post office on 1535sqm at 286 Windsor St is more modest at $3 million to $3.3 million.

The old Richmond Post Office goes to auction on March 8.

Sales agent Peter Chidgey from Ray White Richmond says the property’s soft launch prior to Christmas generated strong interest from local and overseas business owners and entrepreneurs in the areas of hospitality, IT and law.

A potential buyer with an IT business in New Zealand is flying across the ditch next week to inspect the property, Chidgey says.

Higgins bought the historic building that has stables out the back in 2006 for $2.145 million.

In the intervening years, two development proposals for commercial use were submitted to Hawkesbury City Council.

In 2016, a DA for was lodged to convert the premises into a restaurant and bar with an estimated cost of $2.9 million for the additions and alterations.

The old Richmond Post Office at 286 Windsor St, Richmond.

The DA was withdrawn in March last year.

Chidgey says photos of the building’s interiors will go online once items stored there belonging to the owner are removed.

The online ad describes “stunning fireplaces, soaring twelve foot ceilings, timber floorboards and large glass pendant lighting”.

The Heritage Council of NSW dedicated a page to the post office, which was designed by colonial architect James Barnet.

In the Victorian Italianate style, it was constructed as a single level office in 1875 with a second storey added in 1888.

The building was added to the NSW State Heritage Register in 2000.

The property goes to auction on-site on Friday, March 8.

This article from the Penrith Press originally appeared as “Millionaire’s post office could fetch more than $3 million”.