Sydney’s Luna Park is being put up for sale for the first time in two decades, with a price tag expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
The heritage-listed amusement park on Sydney’s harbour foreshore opened in 1935 and remains one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks.
Investment firm Brookfield acquired Luna Park Sydney in 2007 as part of its acquisition of builder Multiplex.
Luna Park Sydney CEO John Hughes today said it was the right time to sell.
“The business is in really great shape,” Mr Hughes said.
“We’ve had a couple of years of extreme growth with new immersive experiences launched here at Luna Park Sydney and our shareholders think now is the right time to go on market.”
Sydney’s version of Luna Park was based on the concept of the “first” Luna Park which opened at Coney Island in New York in 1903.
American entrepreneur Herman Phillips brought the idea to Australia and opened Luna Park in Melbourne in 1912 and Luna Park Glenelg in Adelaide in 1930.
Mr Phillips won a tender to develop the site at North Sydney in 1935 and dismantled the amusement rides at the Glenelg site and transported them to Sydney.
Luna Park protected by unique legislation
Mr Hughes said the amusement park had played an “important role in Sydney’s social and cultural fabric” and remained protected by legislation.
“The park is protected by parliamentary legislation and is one of only two parks globally that is protected by this type of legislation,” he said.
“Meaning that Luna Park Sydney must remain an amusement park for all of Sydney and Sydneysiders to enjoy.”
Sydney’s Luna Park opened to immediate success and remained popular throughout the wartime period of the 1940s.
The site was sold a number of times over the years and by 1975 it was operating on a weekly basis because the managers were unable to negotiate a long-term lease.
The park was shut down when its Ghost Train caught fire and burnt down on June 9, 1979, killing six children and one adult.
Luna Park Sydney reopened in 1982 and again in 1995 before reopening for a final time in 2004.
International real estate firm CBRE has been contracted to oversee the sale.
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