Transport for NSW has sold a Lower North Shore site until recently earmarked for power infrastructure.

The 1270 square metre lot marketed as Lot 10 Butchers Lane, Artarmon, curried favour with a residential developer for $3.4 million ex-GST.

It failed to sell following an auction on August 4.

It was earmarked for a Sydney Metro electrical substation before the infrastructure was relocated to the suburb’s nearby industrial area in 2017.

The Sydney Metro tunnel runs beneath it (the title excludes the railway tunnel stratum, with restrictions and easements relating to the tunnel and freeway including vehicle access).

Substation plan shelved

Abutting four-level apartment complexes to the west, Lot 10 Butchers Ln is about 700 metres to Artarmon station.

Zoned R3 Medium Density Residential, with a 17.5-metre height limit, it falls within the NSW government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms.

Townhouses, multi-dwelling housing and boarding house projects were marketed as potential development outcomes (continues below).

Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin, Jeff Moxham and Joshua Branch were the agents.

The deal comes 13 months since realestatesource.com.au reported the department sold a four-lot 44761 sqm amalgamation at Blacktown for $4.6m – $600,000 over reserve.

Two months earlier it offloaded 11-13 West Botany Street, Arncliffe – spanning 664 sqm zoned Mixed Use – for $1.9m.

In April 2025, Transport for NSW shed five adjoining lots at 1-9 Cardigan St, Stanmore, for $5.3 million.

That 1080 sqm holding sits above the WestConnex tunnel.

All sites were marketed to residential developers.

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The Ryan family is understood to be paying about $100 million for the Bay Street pub.

Royal Hotels Group was the seller, holding 15 years.

It also operated the venue.

HTL Property directors Andrew Jolliffe and Dan Dragicevich were the agents.

Trophy pub

The Royal Oak was acquired by the Malouf brothers, directors of Royal Hotel Group, in 2011.

At 28 Bay St, it has operated continuously as a hotel since the late 19th century (continues below). 

A heritage review dates the building to c1869.

Across multiple levels it includes a sports bar with TAB facilities and 21 electronic gambling machine entitlements.

There is also a rooftop bar.

The Ryan family portfolio of Sydney pubs includes The Ship Inn, The Orient and The Paragon Hotel at Circular Quay.

The Royal Oak deal marks a return to Double Bay after the family previously owned the Golden Sheaf – which Solotel sold earlier this year to Australian Venue Co.

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Goodman Group has been given the green light to replace a suburban Sydney office with a 135-megawatt data centre.

Project Apollo, as it has been dubbed, set for 4-10 Talavera Road, Macquarie Park, carries an end value of c$1.4 billion.

With eight halls, the 28,878 square metre complex will incorporate evaporative cooling towers, grid power, diesel backup generation and lithium-ion batteries.

It will replace the Talavera Business Park, with a three and five level office across 1.03ha also exposed to Lane Cove Rd and the M2.

Goodman has five Sydney data centre projects in its pipeline including at Guildford West (for 126MW), Mascot (90MW), Cove West (90MW) and the former ABC studios at Artarmon (80MW).

With Project Apollo, the capacity is 521MW.

Another data centre deal

Goodman had applied to build a slightly larger project, with 30,931 sqm (continues below).

Also this week it was confirmed Anthropic pre-committed to part of the first stage of the $32b Western Downs Digital Park near Dalby in Queensland.

That project will contain 2.16-gigawatt peak capacity.

The lease is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board and planning approval.

In July realestatesource.com.au reported Macquarie Technology Group outlaid $240m for a 3.4ha site in Talavera Rd, Macquarie Park, with plans for a 200MW complex.

The end value of that project has been put at c$3b.

Macquarie Park is about 15 kilometres north west of the CBD.

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IHG Hotels & Resorts has added two New South Wales assets to a recently formed partnership with Urban Property Group.

The venues will anchor major mixed-use developments in two popular regional centres.

The announcement comes less than a year since the pair announced a similar agreement for a Parramatta project.

IHG Australia & Pacific managing director, Matt Tripolone, said it expects to commit to more Urban projects across the state.

IHG anchors projects

Crowne Plaza Newcastle, expected to open in late 2029, beside the Newcastle Interchange, will contain 171 rooms.

The 43-level tower will also include 219 dwellings, an all-day restaurant, lobby bar and 550 square metres of meeting and event space and including a 425 sqm ballroom.

There is also a pool.

At Gosford, IHG will open a Hotel Indigo within Urban’s The Waterfront precinct, overlooking Brisbane Water.

Set to open in mid-2030 it will contain 152 suites, a rooftop pool and premium wellness facilities (continues below).

The building’s ground floor includes a café and bar.

Both towers will also contain landscaped public areas.

Third deal

The deals come a year since the pair formed a partnership to develop a 217-room Crowne Plaza within Urban’s Fitzwilliam Street mixed-use project at Parramatta. 

“IHG has now signed three exciting new projects with Urban Property Group over the last 12 months, illustrating our shared strategic vision for the sector and the growing strength in our partnership,” IHG Hotels & Resorts managing director Australasia and Pacific Matt Tripolone said

Urban co-chief executive Patrick Elias added hospitality was a natural extension of the group’s residential, retail and commercial activities.

“As Urban continues to evolve, hospitality is a natural extension of our residential, retail and commercial business, helping us create complete destinations and experiences,” according to the executive.

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A 1970s Lower North Shore childcare centre, marketed for its potential to yield over 20 apartments in a luxury project, has instead sold to an operator.

Not for profit SDN Children’s Services, via the Sydney Day Nursery Association, banked $9 million for 8 Rodborough Avenue, Crows Nest.

Discover My World Early Learning Centre is the buyer.

The group will refurbish and occupy the 75-place complex on 1485 square metres abutting Cammeraygal High School Senior Campus, near North Sydney Boys High School.

It expects to reopen next year.

The group also operates at Engadine and North Kellyville.

Colliers’ Tom Appleby and Marina Corvalan were the agents.

The property was marketed for its potential to yield a circa four-level building with c2226 sqm (continues below).

Discover makes it three

In a tree-lined cul-de-sac, zoned High Density Residential, 8 Rodborough Ave is opposite Abadeen’s Koyo residential development, set to rise four floors with 27 units.

The property has a long association with SDN, dating to 1926 when it accommodated a bungalow called Tramore, and was used for a nursery.

It was rebuilt as a childcare centre in 1976.

Sale proceeds will be reinvested into other assets in areas where affordable early childhood education is needed, the vendor said.

Last week realestatesource.com.au reported Stockland banked over $21m from two modern Sunshine Coast childcare centres.

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Bathla’s collapse has left a private-credit lender list stretching across more than 40 financiers, alongside $145 million owed to the Australian Taxation Office and another $130m to unsecured creditors.

The Sydney developer owes about $3.4 billion to known creditors, according to preliminary figures presented by administrators Teneo at the first creditors’ meeting this month.

About $3.08b is owed to secured lenders.

Another $42m in land tax is due.

Some $4m is to be paid to employees for wages and superannuation.

The debt figures remain preliminary as Teneo continues to investigate Bathla’s affairs.

Bob Ell, PAG take control of projects

Among the lenders publicly identified are Balmain, Centuria Bass, Credit Connect, CVS Lane Capital Partners, Keyview, La Trobe Financial, MaxCap, PAG, Ray White Capital and Wingate.

Other lenders identified in reporting include Funding Commercial, Ingweson Lansdown, Keystone Capital, Koa Capital, Oterra, OSK Capital, Pacific 8, Pioneer Wealth, Quay Financial, RELI Capital, Solido, Vangeld and Wentworth Finance.

All up, about 43 lenders are understood to have been involved with some now exercising rights over individual sites (debts is spread across individual projects rather than the group as a whole).

Last week, Bob Ell’s Leda group took control of several Bathla projects. 

Meanwhile PAG has committed to fund contractors directly on a 312-apartment project at Pemulwuy (continues below).

Multi-billion dollar debt

PAG is understood to be Bathla’s largest lender, with more than $300m extended. Centuria Bass has about $280m while Credit Connect is understood to have lent c$270m.

Earlier this month Teneo secured a c$4m emergency funding package from five lenders to keep some projects operating for about two weeks: La Trobe Financial, PAG, Centuria Bass and Ray White Capital are among the lenders understood to be participating.

About 213 of Bathla’s 350 employees were stood down with construction suspended on projects whose lenders did not provide further funding.

Construction was costing the group $1m-$1.3m a week according to the administrator.

The group has about 45 projects under construction, comprising roughly 2,500 homes, and a broader pipeline of about 14,000 dwellings.

Portfolio sell-down

Bathla’s 219 sites have been valued at about $4.9b.

About $400m was for sale or under contract at the first creditors’ meeting.

Teneo is now assessing which projects can be completed and which assets need to be sold or transferred to lenders. The full creditor register hasn’t been released.

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Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital has sold the historic Wisemans Inn Hotel, four years after buying it from former Wallabies player Bill Young.

The property group, which since last year has been focusing on retail, paid $10 million for the freehold going concern.

The property component – 5545 Old Northern Road, Wisemans Ferry – was then registered as $300,000.

Mr Young paid $3.7m for the freehold in 2003.

The deal also includes Cobham Hall, the historic manor of Solomon Wiseman, the convict, merchant and ferryman after whom Wisemans Ferry was named.

The asset is about 300 metres from a new 163-bay boat ramp and draws trade from five to six nearby caravan and holiday parks.

Wisemans Ferry Hotel

Near the Hawkesbury River, the Wisemans Ferry site spans 5123 square metres.

The c1827 hotel includes a bar, bistro, bottle shop, five boutique pub rooms and six freestanding motel suites.

There is also a gaming room with TAB facilities and 12 electronic gambling machines.

Annual turnover is c$3.2m (continues below).

The property was marketed for its potential to derive additional income via an extended alfresco dining area, family zones and event spaces.

The incoming owner is speculated to be a local with an association to the venue. The purchase price is as yet unknown.

JLL’s Kate MacDonald and Greg Jeloudev were the marketing agents.

Iris sells more pubs

The sale comes two months since realestatesource.com.au reported Redcape Hotel Group paid c$500m for a portfolio of Hunter Region pubs.

Mr Arnaout has been broadening his real estate focus beyond pubs and hotels – last May acquiring St Ives Shopping Village and 12 adjoining properties for $450m.

The asset was described as the foundation for a broader scaled retail management platform.

The seller was the Katz family’s EK Nominees.

Iris also just acquired Reef Hotel Casino Cairns for $192.7m.

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Sydney’s heritage-listed SS South Steyne, which spent 36 years carrying passengers between Circular Quay and Manly before becoming a floating hospitality and events venue, is for sale with c$2.5 million price hopes.

The 67-metre, three-deck vessel crossed Sydney Harbour more than 100,000 times during its ferry service.

It carried more than 92 million passengers on the seven-mile route.

In 1988, the boat was refitted as a cruising vessel and function centre before entering service in Melbourne.

It later returned to Sydney, where it was used as the 2000 Olympic Information Centre.

The ship also has a royal connection, recommissioned during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1988 Australian visit and used as her royal yacht in Melbourne.

Colliers’ Jackie Su and Harry Mitchell are the agents.

South Steyne

Built in Leith, Scotland, for the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company, South Steyne entered service on the Circular Quay-Manly route in 1938.

It was withdrawn in 1974 and sold the following year.

In 1991, it sold to a Newcastle resident and returned to NSW.

Current owner Brian McDermott has owned South Steyne for about 30 years, in 2016 moving it to Berrys Bay from Darling Harbour which was being redeveloped.

It was added to the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999 (continues below).

Floating venue

South Steyne is configured with four function and exhibition areas and a restaurant catering for more than 500 guests.

The Main Deck includes a boardroom, Saloon Lounge and bistro with alfresco seating on the outer deck.

The Promenade Deck contains the Harbourview Lounge and Manly Lounge, both opening to external areas, configured for larger functions.

Its Upper Bridge Deck retains the navigation deck, two wheelhouses, lifeboats and crew accommodation.

The rooftop could potentially be used for further activation, including a sundeck or waterfront bar, subject to approvals.

The vessel retains a commercial kitchen, two walk-in cool rooms, freezers, staff and office facilities, dry-goods storage and a dumb waiter connecting the upper decks.

It is powered by a triple-expansion steam engine, built by Harland & Wolff.

The engine could potentially be returned to steam-powered operation, subject to the necessary requirements and approvals, Mr Mitchell said.

“South Steyne gives an operator something that is almost impossible to create from scratch, an established waterfront venue with its own identity, history and sense of arrival,” he added.

The vessel can potentially be relocated, subject to berthing, maritime, planning and council.

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Two prominent occupiers have recommitted to office precincts, east and west of the country.

In Sydney, the state government’s eHealth NSW has renewed its lease for 8500 square metres at Tower B of The Zenith in Chatswood.

The arm of Property and Development NSW has signed on for seven years from August 2027.

It has occupied the space – across eight floors – since November 2013.

eHealth manages the government’s digital healthcare system.

Major North Shore deal

In a statement, Arrow said the office lease deal is the largest in Chatswood since 2022.

It is the second biggest across the North Shore over that period, it added.Arrow, BGRE strike office lease deals

With US-based Starwood Capital, it paid $438.2 million for the twin 21-level offices in 2019.

All up they contain 44,000 sqm of 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rated space.

Chatswood is 10 kilometres north-west of the CBD (continues below).

Corrs moves – but stays

In Perth, BGRE has secured Corrs Chambers Westgarth to Brookfield Place at 125 St Georges Terrace for 11 more years.

The law firm will relocate to levels 21 and 22 of Tower 1 in 2028.

The tenancy spans 3319 sqm.

It will join BHP and PwC in the tower, where BGRE recently invested c$100m to update the lobby, end-of-trip facilities and landscaping.

A flexible workspace, One Two Five, also opened across four floors, part of which is operated by Hub Australia.

“This long-term commitment… reinforces Brookfield Place’s position as one of Perth’s most sought-after business addresses,” BGRE president and co-head, Real Estate, Australia, Danny Poljak, said.

Corrs will move from levels five and six of Tower 2 where it has been based since 2013.

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EXCLUSIVE

A 570-bed aged-care portfolio, including the former Epping Gardens complex, where 38 residents died during a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, has sold for $95.285 million.

The six properties were offered for sale by Peter Arvanitis, his wife Areti and Tony Antonopoulos, who were behind the Heritage Care business now known as Aeralife.

The buyer is LSC Funds Management, controlled by Melbourne Securities Corporation Limited, also known as MSC Group.

The complexes seeded the Healthcare Investment Fund, which was subscribed after calling for wholesale backers mid-year.

Centres sold with leasebacks

HCIF is advised by a board including former EY and Deloitte Private partner Bruce Dungey, with Peter Rubinstein, John Rutledge and John Blight.

Prior to settling on the portfolio, they secured Aeralife to 20-year leases with two 10-year options (it was being marketed with a 15-year leaseback).

In Melbourne’s north, the deal includes the former Epping Gardens (pictured, top), with 148 beds across 8700 square metres at 25 Willandra Drive.

Now known as Aeralife Northpoint, it cost $26.311m.

In the east, the complex now known as Aeralife Bayswater, at 325-329 Canterbury Road, Bayswater North, traded for $21.271m.

On 1.25ha, it contains 121 beds (continues below).

NSW centres

Aeralife banked a total of $47.703m for the four NSW properties:

• Aeralife Botany at 31-37 Edgehill Avenue, Botany;
• Aeralife Kingswood at 29-33 George Street, Kingswood;
• Aeralife Pennant Hills at 2A The Crescent, Pennant Hills; and
• Aeralife Queanbeyan at 7 Campbell Street, Queanbeyan.

HCIF said it independently valued the portfolio upon settlement in late May at $97.45m.

Extended leaseback, value boost

Mr Arvanitis was the founder and former chief executive of Estia Health before becoming a major figure in Heritage Care

The Epping Gardens outbreak was one of the most serious episodes of Australia’s COVID-19 aged-care crisis.

Heritage Care was later prosecuted by WorkSafe Victoria over alleged failures relating to staff training and infection control.

It was found not guilty by a County Court jury in September 2025.

A separate class action arising from the Epping Gardens outbreak remains before the Supreme Court of Victoria.

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