A telephone exchange in Sydney’s fringe is set to be partially decommissioned and sold, with the building up for sale offering one of Sydney’s most significant near-city redevelopment opportunities.

A portion of the Redfern Telephone Exchange at 103-109 George Street is currently owned by Telstra and will be taken to the market via an International Expressions of Interest campaign run by Knight Frank agents Will Brassil, Andrew Harford and James Masselos.

The asset will be offered to the market via a sale and leaseback to Telstra while the telco decommissions the site and moves the required infrastructure into the adjacent building.

The 4,000sq m (approx.) building at 103-109 George Street, which sits on a 1,260sq m (approx.) block, rises 7 storeys above ground, with its 360-degree view corridors likely to be protected in the long term due to the heritage constraints of the surrounding properties.

Mr Brassil said once decommissioned, the property, which was currently zoned E1 Local Centre, would likely be redeveloped into an alternate use (STCA).

“The zoning permits a range of future options, including residential, student accommodation, co-living, traditional office or a medical development,” he said.

“The Redfern property is a key site in the context of Sydney’s inner-city fringe, given that the current building envelope is already over-code and therefore there’s underlying value in the existing improvements.

“Given the site’s significance, we anticipate interest from both local and offshore groups seeking to capitalise on the property’s unique combination of scale, planning potential and income.”

Mr Harford said there has been renewed demand from numerous local and offshore developers for inner city sites like George Street.

“Having had limited development over the past two years, groups are re-entering the market in anticipation that 2025 will foster an improving macro-economic environment,” he said.

“Enquiry from offshore capital, especially from Southeast Asia, has markedly increased and is driving considerable pricing tension with Australian-domiciled groups.”

Knight Frank’s recently-released Australian Horizon 2025 report found now is the time to buy commercial property, particularly well-located core assets, with the market poised for a multi-speed recovery to commence in mid-2025.