Asian investors set to snare half of Northpoint Tower
A private Asian investment house is in advanced talks to buy a half-stake in the $600 million Northpoint Tower in North Sydney from Cromwell Property Group’s South African backer, Redefine Properties.
The deal could set a fresh benchmark in the busy precinct, which is undergoing a development boom with Dexus delivering the NBN headquarters and Winten undertaking a tower being anchored by Nine Entertainment Co.
Cromwell and Redefine swooped on Northpoint in a $278.7 million deal in late 2013 and have almost completed an overhaul of the North Sydney icon, with a reinvented retail precinct, specialty stores, a hotel and rooftop bar added to the landmark building.
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The property, which has 34 levels of office space, will be a major beneficiary of the new Victoria Cross Metro station, which is due to open in 2024.
They bought the tower from Terry Agnew’s Tower Holdings on a yield of 8.7% and poured about $130 million into the redevelopment.
A Toga Far East joint venture operates a new Vibe hotel on part of the site.
The Cromwell-managed revamp of the property has added significant value and the interest would likely change hands in the 5% range.
The Paul Weightman-led Cromwell told analysts last month that it was not planning to sell its share of Northpoint as it expected further upside once the Sydney Metro was completed.
It declined to comment on Redefine, which has a quarter stake in its share registry, but they are undertaking more projects together.
Cromwell flagged plans to convert an old Tuggeranong building in the ACT into a retirement facility, with Redefine the likely capital partner, in line with its support of other moves by its Australian partner.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
