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'Very niche': investor pays more than $1m for Illawarra block with phone towers

By Brendan Crabb

By Brendan Crabb, Illawarra property reporter

First published 12 December 2024, 12:47 am

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The listing is located at Lot 4 and 10 Princes Highway, Maddens Plains. Picture: Supplied

Two substantial blocks of land in the northern Illawarra, both with long leases to phone towers, have fetched more than $1 million.

The listing is located at Lot 4 and 10 Princes Highway, Maddens Plains, and changed hands after several months on the market.

Maddens Plains is a mostly unpopulated area that stretches along the Illawarra escarpment between Thirroul and Stanwell Park.

Read more: Cordeaux Heights home with 'treehouse feel' sold after 40 years

Maddens Plains is a mostly unpopulated area that stretches along the Illawarra escarpment between Thirroul and Stanwell Park. Picture: Supplied

CoreLogic records provide little information on the properties' ownership or past transactions.

However, they were for sale together, and recently sold for $1,052,500.

Selling agent, Michael Farina from MMJ Commercial said the properties were sold to an Illawarra buyer "who specifically looks at telco investments".

"They specialise in this area," he said.

"It's a new world in terms of investment; there's a lot that we learned from this. It's a very niche type of investment."

The sites changed hands after several months on the market. Picture: Supplied

Mr Farina said they had received an "incredible" amount of inquiries, with private investors showing interest in the property.

Lot 4 consists of 14.87 hectares, with 221 square metres leased to 2033 at $26,510 per annum.

Lot 10 features 4569 square metres, with 117 square metres leased to 2034 at $25,248 per annum.

There are also five per cent fixed annual rent increases, and future lease agreements already in place commencing after current lease expiry dates.

Aside from the towers, there is nothing else situated on the properties.

Earlier this year, Mr Farina said it was an environmentally zoned block, "so a lot of the uses are lifestyle-based and not commercial-based".

"But people love the aspect of having a large parcel of land, within reach of the Illawarra, but with the phone towers it has passive income," he said.

"For the telcos, being that infrastructure type asset for communications, you have people looking at the value of that lease."

Brendan Crabb
Brendan Crabb is the Property Reporter at The Illawarra Mercury.

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