Old munitions warehouse

Hi All,

I've attached pictures of a factory in western Sydney I've got.

The roof is an old munitions factory sawtooth design, factory size is approx 600sqm ( total 1700sqm ) with a hopefully crumbling wooden floor ( with no surprises underneath )

Does anyone have any idea of cost to either remove the roof and install a modern factory high ceiling or perhaps renovate the existing a bit so it doesn't look like a dump.

Has anyone had an experience with a site like this? recommendations would be great ( perhaps a full knockdown is in order if it's unsalvagable also thinking of concreting the main section but unsure if it would be worth it.

had tenants move out and just want to do some improvements to perhaps increase the rental income

 

Had a budget price for a flat roof, around 600m² @.$120k+gst, removal of xtg galv, 200m box gutter, wire, cranage etc.

 

Demolish and redevelop into separate 100sq m industrial/commercial spaces - easier to rent than that huge space resulting in continuous cash flow with a low vacancy rate i.e. if one/two spaces are vacant the other spaces are tenanted resulting in better than nothing rent ...
My husband and I did this for over 20 years.

 

I like the idea but i feel like it would attract pain in the arse tennants like waste transfer guys and other dirty industries that want the spaces

Did you do that yourself or have an agent manage it?
Also did you just put up some cones or something like that to layout the areas?

Thanks for the idea

 

Plans had to go to council, council decides which industry is acceptable, each tenant had allocated parking, you choose the tenants, never had any approaches from waste companies or other dirty industries, units were too small.
I managed the units, being an experienced PM, however in hindsight would employ another PM'
Had a couple of interesting experiences but no big problems. The units we had were used as small factories, storage facility, coffee grinding, tradies etc.
Our units were only 50 sq m, I would make it 50/50 100sq m and 50sq m as we were asked often about 100 sq m spaces.
Talk to the commercial REA's in the area.

 

Looking at the roof area ,is it the old super"66" Asbestos ..If you intend to level the building you would want to factor the safe removal of the roof section ..imho..

 

Sorry for asking so many questions but its very interesting...
Did you charge a premium rate for the units ?
Were the units precast or just a shed like setup ?

In Sydney where this site it i would estimate at least $1.4 with demo so would have to be charging at least $100/m2 with say 70% yield on the site area of 1700sqm @ 16 units 50/50

 

i've got my blinkers on about the roof at the moment i haven't had an asbestos inspection done yet but this is a VERY old factory so you're probably right.. i just hope you are wrong

 

Just going by the cracks in some of the overlaps on various sections ,Asbestos will crack over age where as metal will just rust ..good luck..imho..

 

Is there any munitions left on site ?

 

Lead contamination tends to be an issue (always find old bullets lying around these types of sites).

 

At the time of the sale of the property 2015 [Raymond Terrace], it was fully leased [had 12 units] and bringing a 10% yield [no PM fees]. Building was steel frame, fire rated bricks, colorbond walls and roof, 1 roller door plus a side door, 2 amenities blocks & a car space for each tenant plus concrete apron. Units were a 2 min walk from town centre. Tenants paid water & council rates plus GST., Outgoings were negligible - Insurance, cleaner for amenities block.
Would think twice about building with precast, too expensive ...
PS Property was sold 3 weeks after being offered for sale!

 

@HorribleWestie - so what have you decided?

 

Looks like a cool site. Check out "Federal Mills Park", a good case study. Was an old industrial woollen mills site turned into various office and other commercial uses. That was a relatively large project from a planning perspective but turned out really well.
Would be worth having a chat to a good town planner and look into what uses are as of right and what might be prohibited. Being an old munitions factory there may be a site contamination overlay or alike affecting the site for some lighter commercial uses etc.