Covid trends set to drive interest in ‘Morrissey warehouse’
A luxe mixed-use warehouse in Sydney’s vibey Rosebery will appeal to creatives looking for a readymade work-from-home set-up or a more mainstream business after a space cool enough to lure employees back to the office.
The freestanding 1960s sawtooth warehouse in Princess Avenue, purchased for $1.35 million in 2008, combines a chic three-bedroom residence with ”a commercial office component and seamlessly integrated creative spaces.”
Owned by talent managers Mark and Lizzi Dayney-Morrissey, the property is on the market with a $3 million price tag and is set for auction on site on August 13. The 400sqm Morrissey warehouse is being sold by BresicWhitney’s Shannan Whitney and Metro Commercial’s John Bacic.
It’s in a quiet street near Green Square station in the emerging entertainment neighbourhood of Rosebery, where according to PropTrack, the median house price is $2,170,000, which is up by 17.9% over the last 12 months. The three-bedroom home median is $2,220,000.
The original window frames and metal trusses are standout features. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale
The double-height spaces, soaring ceilings, original window frames and metal trusses and authentic floors throughout are a nod to the building’s industrial past. It has two street frontages and two car spaces and R1 zoning, allowing residential and commercial uses.
Covid trends key to appeal
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said the New York-style warehouse should appeal to two distinct demographics; a creative person or business similar to Morrissey Management, which manages big names like the Hemsworth brothers, and more strait-laced businesses wanting to make the return to the office more appealing.
The three-bedroom residence features “soaring ceilings and windows”, exposed to the north, as well as a number of workspaces. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale
She said recent search results on realcommercial.com.au showed both the growing normalisation of ”working where you live”, but also conventional businesses’ appetite for something more than a simple office. Both are tied to the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic and key to the sale.
”A growing number of people searching for commercial property now also include search terms like ‘residential’ or ‘bedroom’, so demand for property that can host a business and also be a home is strong … and we know the pandemic has contributed to that.
”Commuting is one of the things that impacts more negatively on wellbeing than almost anything else, so if you can live and work from the same site, that’s incredibly attractive,” Ms Flaherty said.
Character matters now
With office occupancy data from the Property Council of Australia recently revealing barely three in five people went into a CBD workplace in June, the other potential buyer could be a more standard office-based business, Ms Flaherty said.
”Among those looking for office space on realcommercial.com.au, we have seen an increase in the use of search words such as ‘character’ and ‘heritage’ and this tells us businesses are looking for something a bit more special, more unique.
Natural light floods the property, which will be auctioned on-site on August 13. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale
”It used to be that an office was a place you went to, to sit at and work, but that’s not the case anymore. If businesses want to get people back in the office after working from home for so long, they know it needs to be an appealing place to come to and work, not just a traditional office.
”They need a space that will encourage collaboration, that is nice to spend time in, that people are happy to spend time travelling to. This is especially the case in Melbourne and Sydney, by virtue of the amount of time those cities spent locked down during the height of the pandemic,” Ms Flaherty said.
