Sydney Metro puts Crows Nest on track

SYDNEY METRO and its future extension has reignited the appeal of Crows Nest, with the Pacific Highway and High Street locations already seeing a benefit, according to Ray White’s latest Between the Lines** commercial research.

“There’s no doubt the Sydney Metro extension will have a huge impact, with the area expected to profit immensely due to the completion of the Crows Nest Metro Line by 2024,” said Ray White Commercial NSW – Sydney North Director Scott Stephens.

“We’re excited for this project to be completed and anticipate it will reinvigorate these local strips and bring vibrancy back to an otherwise dreary Pacific Highway.

“The confidence is already flowing, and the perfect example of this is the major leasing deal we’ve just secured for JAX Tyres to have their corporate headquarters at Level 2, 39-47 Albany Street.

“This property had been the head office for Warner Music for many years. In the end, we had three quality corporate tenants vying for the space.

“The premises has an area of 1,075sq m* and the lease term is six years plus a five-year option, with the starting rent of $516,000 p.a. gross plus GST, and this is a real sign of belief that the Crows News region is back on track.

“We’ve also recently secured another 10-year leasing deal with Vet Partners, with three five-year options at a starting rent of $245,000 p.a. gross plus GST, for 313sq m* at 4/136 Willoughby Road.”

Ray White Head of Research Vanessa Rader said the mix in quality of stock was vast across the Crows Nest precinct and some owners had cleverly invested in CapEX and been creative in re-purposing spaces.

“Ray White Commercial have completed a primary research survey of this region and have identified 317 shopfronts totaling 38,376sq m* with a total vacancy of 11.3 per cent,” she said.

“The largest space occupiers are services (21.73 per cent) which is a trend seen across most retail strip locations given their need to be located close to their customers.

“Looking at both these two smaller precincts, we can see the high vacancy attributed to the Pacific Highway precinct, currently at 17.75 per cent, with this section of our survey identifying 29 vacancies.

“This precinct is likely to be the greatest to benefit from the metro rail link to reactivate the high number of vacancies providing a mix of food and services to cater for the various users of the metro throughout the day.

“Quality assets along Pacific Highway average gross face rents of approximately $725-$775psqm while those in the suburban Willoughby Road precinct are achieving closer to $1,000psqm gross.”

*Approximately.

**Ray White Between the Lines – Retail Survey: Crows Nest Precinct – November 2019.