History
In 1969 Hayson Associates Sales was established to market home units in the fledgling
Sydney development industry. It quickly became become established as one of the
market leaders in large volume sales of new and used strata title home unit blocks
and home unit sites. Together with Hamilton & Company, Hayson Associates Sales
was one of the largest marketers of home unit projects in Sydney at that time.
Australia's first super high-rise
apartment building Golden Gate
Surfers Paradise
In 1971 the Hayson Group development company was formed. The company assembled a
number of sites for high-rise strata title unit developments adjacent to the Northern
Shore Railway Line in Artarmon. The Hayson Group developed some of these sites itself
and maintained the impetus by selling the remaining sites to other developers, such
as the fledgling Meriton. Their activities acted as a catalyst for a whole new residential
market. In only four years over 30 projects had been successfully completed, firmly
establishing Artarmon as a major multi-unit area and Hayson as one of Sydney’s largest
developers.
Then in 1972, the group constructed the 33 storey Golden Gate
development on Queenslands Gold Coast, Australia’s first super high-rise serviced
strata title apartment complex. During this period, the group also continued to
develop and sell many strata title apartment complexes in Sydney.
In 1974, the group introduced a new dimension to the Australian property market
by developing the process of residential strata conversion on a large scale. Purchasing
numerous older-style large apartment properties in run-down but well located areas.
The company then extensively renovated the apartments and divided them into strata
title units sold at competitive prices. Many thousands of apartments were converted
and sold in this way. This process ensured entire inner Sydney suburbs were rejuvenated.
The process of strata title conversion of flats has now spread throughout Australia
and is an established sector of the property market.
By 1978, the group with its interest and expertise in refurbishment extended its
activities into commercial, as well as residential property. The Group acquired
large areas of underdeveloped inner city property which enabled it to master plan
its redevelopment independently and in conjunction with other major developers.
The 3.25-hectare Palisades site on the eastern boundary of Sydney’s business district
at Darlinghurst, East Sydney, was the first of several similar developments. What
was a run-down and largely vacant area is today a mixture of luxury strata titled
apartments, shops, offices and restaurants accommodating over 2,000 residents and
business people.
In 1980 the group was one of the first to refurbish inner city office buildings
and convert them to strata title. This enabled small businesses to purchase their
own commercial premises and allowed small investors to buy CBD property, previously
the preserve of large investors. The successful strata conversion, and sale of Beanbah
Chambers, Park House and Windeyer Chambers in the CBD’s medical and legal sector,
are examples of Hayson’s initiative at this time. Today, strata conversion of office
space is an established sector of the Australian commercial property market and
Hayson is credited as being an initiator of this process.
About this time, Hayson acquired the historic mansion “Boomerang” in Billyard Avenue,
Elizabeth Bay along with 1 hectare of waterfront land. The property was subdivided
and resold with “Boomerang” itself sold at $1.05 million and Australian record.
1981 saw the beginning of the acquisition of large, centrally located disused warehouses
for conversion to other uses. The value of the properties was enhanced by the combination
of refurbishment expertise and the obtaining of a change of use to offices, retail
and car parking, with strata title being a significant benefit. The group was the
first to recognise this opportunity and over 280,000 m² of warehouse space was developed
in this way.
At the same time, Hayson introduced the loft concept to Sydney, building the first
prototype in a disused warehouse in Ultimo to convince the market of its salability.
Succeeding in this, the company went on to develop the first true loft apartment
complex in the Jaguar Bryson building in Woolloomooloo.
In 1985, The Hayson Group extended its activities into large-scale retail development.
The New South Wales Government appointed the group as the first private developer
in Sydney’s huge $2billion Darling Harbour project. The contract was won by tender
and a 15,000 m² retail project, Harbourside, was constructed.
Ian Hayson with the Queen at the
opening of Harbourside Darling Harbour The group, through Merlin Australia, completed the Skygarden
retail and office project in the Sydney CBD in 1990 for which it was awarded “The
Best Development in the World” from the United States International Council of Shopping
Centres. This accolade was received over other entries from such countries as England,
France and the USA. In 1991 the group completed the Manly Wharf retail re-development
at Manly.
From 1991 to 1995, the group returned to its grass root activities of purchasing
existing apartment blocks and recycling them as strata apartments. Some 25 buildings
were processed in this way at the time. During this period the group also saw the
need for inner city car parking. They converted disused warehouse space and developed
several major CBD car parks.
As the property market improved, group activity was stepped up during 1996 with
new joint venture projects. Some 160 new inner city apartments were constructed
and sites for another 1,000 units were bought and sold.
The group continued to pursue retail re-development with the purchase in 1997 of
the Kogarah Town Shopping Centre (a major sub-regional shopping centre), the
Metropole Shopping Centre at Cremorne in 1998 and the
Southpoint Shopping Centre, Hillsdale in 1999.
During 2000 and 2001 the group purchased several existing buildings, the
Top of the Town Hotel in Darlinghurst, a 16 storey office building
in Francis St, East Sydney and The Crescent Hotel in Bayswater
Rd, Kings Cross. Over the next few years, they developed the Top of the Town Hotel
into luxury apartments and an outstanding penthouse and the Francis Street building
into the progressive urban apartment project Lumina with
joint venture partners. Both projects sold out with unprecedented speed and attained
record prices per m² for the area. Hayson also renovated and strata titled the Crescent
Hotel, selling 24 studios and 46 one-bedroom apartments, and all the car spaces
to investors. It’s most recent endeavor has been the re-development of 36,000 m²
in two heritage listed wool stores in Pyrmont to create M Central,
Australia’s first loft metropolis consisting 164 apartments and 341 car spaces.
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Over the past 40 years The Hayson Group of Companies has been at the forefront of
property development, identifying
new areas of opportunity and innovatively designed
projects. The Hayson Group prides itself on its longevity, strong industry reputation and superior product.
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Era on Springfield and The Village Centre |
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