Bridgehill to convert TAL site to flats

Bridgehill Developments has emerged as the purchaser of the TAL building at Sydney’s Milsons Point.

The tower at 80 Alfred Street is occupied by the life insurance group which will move across the harbour into the ­CBD to 363 George Street this year.

Bridgehill Developments agreed to buy the building from Australand last year for about $49 million; it is planning to convert it into luxury apartments. CBRE handled the sale and is advising.

Bridgehill Developments director Yibin Xu said the landmark site would be designed in a way that depicted modern living.

The group, which has worked with architects SJB on other projects, is planning a scheme with 132 apartments and a commercial component.

Bridgehill plans to start construction when TAL moves out later this year and is aiming to complete the first apartments by the end of 2014.

Mr Xu said that the building would be “totally reimagined” and the overhaul would include a transformation of its external structure.

Bridgehill has previously undertaken projects in the Sydney suburb of Rhodes, where its initial foray came after it acquired a site from a venture between Brookfield Asset Management and Trafalgar Property Group, and it has since picked up another nearby site.

The group’s Azure Waterfront project at Rhodes spans 159 apartments across four low-rise buildings and was priced up to about $1 million for three-bedroom units. Bridge Hill’s nearby 205-apartment Monaco complex included three-bed townhouses for up to $1.3 million.

But the group’s experience includes high-end projects elsewhere in the world. Mr Xu is working on a project for a 65-storey tower in China’s booming Shenzhen.

Originally published by Financial Review