Diplomatic immunity: US consulate building offers certainty amid market storm

Sumner Capital and Prime Super are selling 50 Miller Street

North Sydney’s status as one of the country’s busiest office markets is being showcased as Sumner Capital puts the complex that houses the US consulate on the market for more than $150m.

The move to put 50 Miller St up for sale comes after it overhauled the building to accommodate the ­diplomatic tenant amid a flurry of deals in North Sydney.

LaSalle Investment Management in May signalled its confidence in the area by swooping on the top floors in the super-slim under-construction tower at 88 Walker St, which the private Billbergia is developing.

Singapore’s Roxy-Pacific Holdings also snapped up the old Sony building from Albert Malki’s Intera Group. The B-grade office block is well positioned as the area faces a wave of fresh developments.

Investment bank UBS is also closing in on a $400m block at 73 Miller Street, which Asian warehousing giant ESR and Swiss-based Partners Group are offloading after upgrading the asset.

A wave of fresh developments by Lendlease, Stockland, Third.i and most recently GPT show that big players believe the area will be transformed by the Victoria Cross Metro Station.

CBRE’s James Parry and Kenny Duncanson and JLL’s James Barber, Luke Billiau and Simon Storry are handling the sale of 50 Miller Street.

Sumner undertook an extensive upgrade of the 10,427sq m asset, which was completed in 2019 and ­included more than $15m in base-building capital works. The consulate poured about $120m into fitting out its space and WeWork also invested in the building.

Sumner Capital’s Kirby Parsonage said the time was right to “recycle the capital to invest in new opportunities amid ongoing demand for high-quality North Sydney investment opportunities”.

Mr Parry said the A-grade building was one of only four assets in the North Sydney CBD with a seven-plus year WALE.

“In the past five years, no assets with a seven-plus-year WALE and a sub-$200m lot size have been offered to the market in North Sydney,” he said.

JLL’s Mr Barber said the building’s prime location would be another strong buyer drawcard. He noted its position near the future station, which will slash travel times to Martin Place and Barangaroo.