Level 33 Drops $40m on Wollongong’s Biggest Sale

A former Bunnings Warehouse site near Woolongong’s CBD has sold for a cool $40 million in what is being been billed as the city’s biggest sale. 

Sydney developer Level 33 acquired the 2.73ha site from BWP Management Limited. It is due to settle in June, 2024. 

This is not its first acquisition in the city 85km south of Sydney.

The Sydney family-owned developer and construction business this year filed plans for a 19-storey, two-tower shoptop development on Crown Street in the heart of NSW’s third-biggest city.

The Colliers team of James Wilson, Simon Kersten, Guillaume Volz and Taleah Thomas brokered the deal for 73-75 Gipps Street at what Wilson said was the “highest value sale of an inner-city development site in Woolongong’s history”.

“The sale of 73-75 Gipps Street engaged more than 100 enquiries from developers nationally, which resulted in a highly competitive bidding process,” Wilson said. 

“The transaction reflects the land rich nature of the retail investment class given the strategically located sites featured mixed-use development potential.”

▲ The former Bunnings site has sold in the biggest deal on record for NSW’s third-biggest city.

The site is leased to the Federal government, which Colliers national director of residential Guillaume Volz said showed confidence in a rebounding market. 

“This acquisition demonstrates the ongoing willingness of developers to acquire sites in prime locations on which they can develop large-scale projects,” Volz said. 

“And that, in turn, is a mark of confidence that investors will return to the market in significant numbers soon.”

The BWP Trust acquired the site in 2003 for $12 million on an initial yield of 8.5 per cent and it was valued at $22 million in June, 2023. 

According to the trust, the sale resulted in a realised internal rate of return of 12.3 per cent since the original acquisition.

Trust managing director Mark Scatena said the divestment, supported by an independent valuation, follows a detailed review of alternative uses for the property, with the sale deemed to be in the best interests of unitholders. 

BWP Trust put forward a plan for high density on the site this year, while also renewing the Australian Electoral Commission’s lease for a five-year period.