Salvos to sell Forest Lodge hall after more than a century
The Salvation Army have revealed plans to sell a community hall in Sydney’s inner west that has been under their ownership for more than a century.
Located in the heart of Forest Lodge, the hall has been servicing the local community since the charitable organisation opened the doors in 1911.
A mixed bag of buyers including builders, developers, church groups and owner occupiers are already eyeing off 9 Ross St after it being on the market for less than a week.
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“We have people who want to turn the hall into a home, while others have expressed a desire to transform it into a boarding house or a mixed-use site,” Matt Carvalho of Ray White Surry Hills says.
The future of the Ross St property will be known when it goes to auction on November 30, where it is expected to sell for around $3 million.
Full of history.
Carvalho says the Salvation Army did not take the decision lightly to sell the iconic hall.
“They had been thinking and weighing the options up for around a year,” he says.
“Ultimately they decided the money from selling could be spent elsewhere, especially as the hall isn’t getting much use.”
The 439sqm property has had many uses throughout its history including hosting community events, weekly church gatherings and services to help locals in need.
Sitting on the doorstep of Sydney.
The hall is heritage listed.
It is currently zoned for B1 and allows for small-scale neighbourhood centres, retail uses, business premises, community uses and a residential component.
The new owner will be forced to keep the hall in tact as the structure is in tact. They are allowed to demolish or modify the second building on the site.
“It is a beautiful building with is pressed metal ceilings,” Carvalho says.
The listing ad said the site is perfect for buyers who want a business in the main hall and living quarters in the rear cottage.
Carvalho says the property is a rare find in the inner west, with buyers hard pressed to find another like it in the area.
There is a courtyard at the rear.
“It is extremely rare for an opportunity like this to present itself, and buyers recognise this is a very unique listing,” he says.
No. 9 Ross St is located on the doorstep of Glebe, Broadway, University of Sydney and the RPA Hospital.
A sale at around $3 million would make it one of the highest recorded results in Forest Lodge since the Friend in Hand pub sold in June for around $10 million.
