Skip to content.Contact Support 1300 799 109
By Emily Power

October 16, 2017

Well-heeled buyer pays $1 million ... for inner city air
The rooftop of 68 Oxford Street, Collingwood, has sold for more than $1 million. Photo: Jellis Craig

Buyer pays $1 million for rare Collingwood warehouse rooftop and air rights

A buyer has paid more than $1 million for a pocket of inner city air.

The unusual sale is for the roof of a heritage building on Collingwood’s Oxford Street, on which the buyer will build a penthouse.

The new owner has in effect paid for “air rights”.

Level 5 of 68 Oxford Street was due to go under the hammer on Saturday, but an early offer has trumped the $950,000 to $1 million price quote.

The 220 square rooftop of the former Foy & Gibson factory was sold with a permit and designs for a multi-storey penthouse, to exploit 360 degrees views from the CBD skyline to Studley Park.

Jellis Craig agent Simon Shrimpton did the deal, but declined to comment on any aspect of the transaction, including the exact sale sum.

The contracts were inked on Wednesday night.

It is understood the buyer, an owner-occupier, will enact plans to build the penthouse.

A rooftop listing is rare and the closest price comparison possible is to vacant land, of which is there is very little, if any, in Collingwood.

At a sale price of more than $1 million, the price is expected to equal a per square metre record of more than $4500 for an empty plot in the suburb.

That price is on par with land-only values in blue ribbon Toorak.

Greville Pabst, head of WBP Property Group, said roof plot was sizeable for Collingwood, which is characterised by narrow terraces and warehouse conversions.

“This is essentially the sale of air rights — the ability to build on a rooftop,” he said.

“They do come up from time to time, but not very often. It is popular in the US and Europe … and that trend is coming here as well.

“It gives somebody the opportunity to have a blank canvas and they can build their dream up there.

“It is a big footprint, you can do a lot with that. This is the kind of property I would have loved to get for my clients.”

The sale included car parking, with lift access to the rooftop, which crowns a landmark converted warehouse in Collingwood’s old industrial heart.

The Foy & Gibson is now home to upmarket apartments.

Mr Shrimpton said a rooftop in Collingwood had not been offered to the market for 15 years.

“What makes this one even more exclusive is that it is the best space in the building,” he said.

“This space was never offered to the marketplace. The gentleman who owns this was the chief architect for the developer and he grabbed this before it went to market, and he grabbed the best one in the building. It has north, east and west orientation, so the aspect is second to none.

“There is no other building I know that has an orientation like this, with a scale like this.”

A similar rooftop listing in London hit the market last December.

The steep asking price for the top of a block of flats, in a trendy part of South London, sparked fears the capital city’s real estate market had reached peak price insanity.

The 53 square rooftop on Bermondsey Street was expected to fetch $790,000, more than double the price of the average British home.

At $14,500 a square metre, it came with planning permission for a compact one bedroom apartment.

Things you should know

The information on this website is intended to be of a general nature only and doesn't consider your objectives, financial situation or needs.