Old Post Office, Newcastle, NSW.

 

96 - 100 Hunter Street

 

Project Realisation:  n/a

Sale Process:            n/a

CMF Appointment:   Consultancy

 

The Old Newcastle Post Office (completed in 1903) had originally been decommissioned and sold by the NSW State Government to a private developer in 2002. Since that time the property had been let go into a state of disrepair.

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Community feeling about the state of this much loved iconic building had been running hot for some time and there was pressure on the State Government to buy back the property when it came to market.

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Following a successful negotiation on behalf of the Vendor with the Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA) the Director General had been so impressed with the professionalism of CMF’s negotiation that we were employed by the LPMA to undertake a scoping study as to the likely future use of the building; how it could be achieved and; who the occupants/tenants would be.

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The report was one of the most wide ranging and comprehensive that we had ever undertaken. It involved consultations with a variety of stakeholders including; architects; planners; council; community groups; indigenous groups; etc.

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We assessed such things as; demographics; community vs commerciality factors; Council zoning; heritage; surroundings uses and users; tourism; cultural issues; the property market; nature and style of potential uses; possible rents; ownership structures moving forward; public private partnership models; etc.

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Ultimately the local indigenous tribe won a Land Environment Court decision to transfer the building ownership to the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council.

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As a result of the comprehensiveness of this report CMF was invited to produce further reports for the NSW State Government including most notably for the handover of Nobby’s Headland. 

 

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