New life for old buildings

CONVERSIONS: COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES INTO RESIDENTIAL, STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

- Citizen reporter

Property conversions - office blocks to apartment blocks, retail centres to medical facilities or workshops into for-hire storage or warehouses - are the name of the property game of late. "Not only does the auction platform unlock liquidity in the marketplace for private investors or state-owned enterprises with large property portfolios that no longer match their future business strategies, but it also provides an invaluable foundation for future development and re-development," said High Street Auction co-director Greg Dart.

Some of the almost 40 properties that will come under the High Street Auction hammer on 17 July could be ripe for re-invention, Dart said.

Repurpose rather than rebuild Dart noted that the commercial property market is still oversupplied with market forces now driving the need for retrofitting office spaces. "There is a need for capital allocation for asset repurposing. Converting underperforming office stock into alternative uses will ultimately remove obsolete inventory and tighten the market," he added.