Moore Park Entertainment Quarter for sale, valued at $63m - 8th April 2017

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by Carolyn Cummins

The chance of owning a sound stage, cinemas and a parade ring is now a reality with the leasehold for the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park on the market, valued at $63 million.

It is being sold by the CFS Retail Property Trust and its associated unlisted trust, a decade after buying it from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and the developer, Lend Lease.

Both Lend Lease and News Corp's Fox Entertainment Group spent more than $430 million redeveloping the former Sydney Showground site.

But the failure of the much-vaunted Backlot theme park, which included the Titanic ride, led to major losses for both parties.

Lend Lease reported a write-down on the project of more than $145 million after tax and in 2002 sold its stake in the adjoining film studios to Fox Corp for $10 million.

The entertainment and sports precinct, near to the Sydney CBD, has now been revamped and separated from the Fox Studio film set.

However, the 11.08 hectare site still has a mix of some sound studios, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Bent Street retail shops and the showring from its former life as the Sydney Showground.

An approved concept plan provides an opportunity for buyers to further develop the site, to include an additional 26,187 square metres of floor area. That could potentially include the offices and hotel that were part of the original Lend Lease/News plans.

Michael Gorman, deputy chief executive and chief investment officer of CFS Retail, said the sale was part the trust's strategy of further refining the quality of our directly owned portfolio through the sale of non-core assets.

CFS Retail, which has internalised its management from the Commonwealth Bank and has also ear-marked a number of non-core assets for sale.

The co-owner of the Moore park property, the Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) Property Retail Partnership's joint head of wholesale, Michael Brown said the asset was being offered by the trust to take advantage of the current strong demand for mixed use sites with development upside.

The property is being offered for sale through Sam McVay of McVay real estate.

(The Sydney Morning Herald)