Sydney Fringe Offices Earmarked for Uni Conversion

The University of Notre Dame is planning to convert city fringe offices into educational spaces to support 302 students as part of its move into Sydney.

The Western Australian Catholic university has applied to the City of Sydney to convert the building to allow for the occupation and operation of additional teaching space. 

The 1412sq m site at 140 Myrtle Street, Chippendale is bounded by Myrtle and Smithers streets. 

It currently comprises commercial office buildings of between two and four storeys with a gross floor area of 2412sq m.

The existing University of Notre Dame campus is about 200m north-west of the site, while the University of Technology is just to the north.

The proposal includes $3.6 million worth of minor amendments, including bike stores, facade changes and internal wall removal and modifications, as well as the provision of more amenities. 

The internal fitout and any minor alterations in configuration will be done by a separate development approvals pathway.

“The proposed development seeks to provide additional university space within a highly accessible location, in close proximity to the existing University of Notre Dame campus,” the development application said.

The site is near amenities and transport routes as well as student accommodation “and as such would be a highly appropriate use” the application said.

According to Corelogic RP Data, the building was last sold in 2016 for $21 million. 

The University of Notre Dame has campuses at Broome and Fremantle on Wadjuk and Yawuru Country, as well as Broadway and Darlinghurst in Sydney on Gadigal Country. 

It is just one of the many universities across Australia to have invested in satellite campuses—UNSW recently revealed designs for its $1-billion Canberra campus.

Given the poor performance and a steep decline in new office projects, offices have been tipped as an answer to housing crisis woes with developments such as Chapter Two’s Spring Hill project launched and plans filed to turn Boeing’s former offices at 363 Adelaide Street in Brisbane into student accommodation.

However, the costs of converting offices into residential has proven prohibitive so upgrading and repositioning assets has been key.