Newcastle accountant Paul Siderovski has splashed out a multi-million figure for a commercial site in Newcastle West that occupies an entire block.
Bull Street LF Pty Ltd paid $33.4 million for the property at 117 Bull Street, which was brokered as an off-market sale by Matt Kearney, of Commercial Collective and Kenny Duncanson of CBRE, on behalf of Cromwell Funds Management.
The agents were unable to comment on the buyer but a title search revealed that Mr Siderovski is the sole director of Bull Street LF Pty Ltd.
Previous owners Cromwell Funds Management purchased the property in May 2013 for $13.8 million, according to the agent.
Commercial Collective selling agent Mr Kearney said the property offered a stand-out opportunity for development as well as the government income from its NSW Department of Education tenancy. The tenancy is guaranteed until 2028.
Mr Kearney said a key element to the sale was the property's longer-term development potential.
"The property has a 30-metre height limit," he said. "Its location at the heart of Newcastle, with proximity to Marketown Shopping Centre and the ever-evolving West End precinct, add to the future potential of the investment."
Last year Mr Siderovski, who bought the now-defunct Yogurtland franchise to Australia, and his accounting firm SiDCOR reached an out-of-court agreement with a former client who alleged he lost $21 million due to "misleading or deceptive" investment advice.
Mr Kearney said the off-market sale was in the works for more than 12 months.
"We have been dealing with the fund off-market for over 12 months and they decided they wanted to sell it and their preference was to go off-market," he said.
The property occupies an entire block in Newcastle West.
"The building is one of those buildings that you either love or hate because it's the Brutalist architecture similar to the Newcastle police station," Mr Kearney said. "It is a very interesting building."
He said the 2013 sale of the property was significant for Newcastle.
"I would say this one is the building that started an interest in the capital market in Newcastle when it sold back in 2013," the agent said.
"I believe they paid a 10 per cent yield for the property at the time and there was a flurry of capital markets transactions after that, including 1 Honeysuckle Drive which sold for around $11.4 million," he said.
"After that, we went on to sell the Hunter Water building for $25 million pretty quickly thereafter."
