Sydney‘s iconic Luna Park is up for sale, with the multimillion-dollar listing expected to generate heavy domestic and international interest.
The Milsons Point amusement park could sell for up to $70million, with CBRE agents Simon Rooney, James Douglas and Paul Ryan at the helm of the marketing campaign.
‘Trophy assets such as Luna Park are tightly held and rarely traded, with the campaign providing an opportunity to secure a world-class entertainment, event and experience destination with further upside,’ Mr Rooney said.
The site is owned by Canadian construction heavyweight Brookfield under a long-term lease that expires in 2040; however, under NSW legislation it must remain an entertainment precinct and cannot be redeveloped into residential dwellings.
Announcing the sale, Luna Park Sydney chief executive John Hughes spoke to the park’s commercial value.
‘The business has undergone a strategic transformation, with a $40million upgrade during the last four years adding new rides and immersive experiences, both of which are driving record visitation,’ he said.
‘Our outstanding management team is pursuing a strong pipeline of new opportunities that will further add value to the business.’
Modelled after New York’s famed Coney Island, the Sydney site opened in 1935 and is now home to 17 rides, a heritage-listed Coney Island funfair and a Crystal Palace and Big Top event space.
The site is protected by law for the purposes of an amusement park. One of only two such places in the world, the other being Denmark’s Tivoli Gardens.
In 2016, the NSW government paid Brookfield $3.2million to buy back a 500sq m clifftop site, which has since been turned into a public park.
At the time, then finance minister Dominic Perrottet spoke glowingly of ‘returning’ the site to the people of NSW and said it would ‘encourage foot traffic along the clifftop and provide locals and visitors with new views of our harbour’.
The park has been in place for 88 years, although it closed to visitors on three occasions.
Once in 1979 after the infamous Ghost Train fire in which six children and one adult were killed after a blaze broke out on the ride.
Again in 1988 after an engineering report found several rides were in need of urgent repair. The site didn’t reopen until 1995 following the new owners making a number of upgrades.
And again in 1996 when noise complaints led to reduced hours and less attendance.
Another major refurbishment was done before it relaunched in 2004 and it has remained open since.