NINE years after buying a warehouse to convert as modern share house accommodation, a TV renovation show producer has stepped away from his own project and is selling.
For the lucky buyer, that means there is now the chance to pick up a Mayfield warehouse which is the ultimate blank canvas.
Originally built in 1926 as the Hipwell Building, and most recently used as premises for a furniture upholstery business, the double-brick, two-storey warehouse at 5 Hanbury Street has been completely stripped inside and is ready for a new owner to create their dream warehouse conversion.
The property features high ceilings and large, open rooms, including one with an original fireplace, and a two-car garage out the back.
The owner bought the warehouse in 2014 with ambitions to renovate the property and convert it into modern share house accommodation for young professionals with seven bedrooms, two bathrooms and open-plan living areas.
A major storm in 2015 tore the roof off the building, which has been replaced with a new one, and since then the building has remained vacant as a "fixer-upper".
A change in circumstances has led the owner to put it on the market.
"I just kept putting it off," the current owner, who preferred not to be named said.
"My background is not in building, it's in television production and I'm usually walking around filming contestants who are fixing up houses on reality shows.
"Like the contestants on these shows I thought that it would just be a few coats of paint and I'd be done in six months, but here we are five years later."
Inside has been gutted almost entirely, with flooring in some parts while others are completely bare down to the ground.
"Definitely what you see is what you get. Nothing is hidden. It's all just structure, there are no finishes or coverings," he said.
"The hard work is done with preparation and this is the blank canvas."
Positioned on a 408 square metre block with dual access via Braye Street and zoned R4 High-Density Residential which allows a variety of residential and mixed-use options, Walkom Real Estate listing agent Kate Rundle said the building offers multiple possibilities.
"It is zoned for high-density residential at the moment but because it is R4 it could be commercial or it could be residential," the agent said.
"There are lots of options. The contract tells there is nothing heritage-listed on it so that's a bonus."
The vendor said he would love to see someone with imagination come in and revive the space.
"This part of Mayfield is gentrifying by the minute and it would be a great opportunity to build a restaurant or wine bar or a studio of some kind," he said.
"Something like that could definitely work here.
"It is that big that you could build a restaurant and cocktail bar, it definitely has that potential, or it could be converted into really cool apartments."
The property will go to auction on-site on March 11 at 10.30am.
The agent said a price guide will be set after the first open inspection on Saturday, February 18 at 10.15am.
"We haven't put a price guide on it yet because there are no comparable sales," she said.
"We just don't know at this stage so once we have the first open we will have more of an idea of a price."
