Comonwealth Bank to sell heritage-listed State Savings Bank of NSW building

The Commonwealth Bank is planning to sell the State Savings Bank of NSW building at 48 Martin Place.

Along with the adjoining property at 9-19 Elizabeth Street, it comes with reported expectations of achieving $150 million given its offered with development approval for the moderization of the offering. 

The building at 48 Martin Place is an iconic Sydney building and is on the National Heritage list. The bank will take a long lease back. 

It has a distinctive terracotta and pink granite Beaux-Arts façade. It was originally built as the headquarters of the Government Savings Bank of NSW, which opened in 1928. 

The interior features large scagliola columns, extensive use of marble, and a plaster and pressed-metal ceiling. The building's square trading hall was originally one of the largest in the world. Its stately vault is housed in the basement. There had been a recent refurbishment by Tanner Architects within the bank headquarters. 

In 2010 the CBA engaged project managers TSA Management to study the ongoing feasibility of its holding as part of the bank’s overall accommodation planning program.

The CBA’s nearby “money box” building, at 120 Pitt Street/5 Martin Place partially changed hands last year when the industry superannuation fund Cbus bought a half share for $42.3 million from the bank's Commonwealth Property Office Fund. 

The site, on which the former Commonwealth Bank's famous tin money boxes were modelled, is to be redeveloped, which CPA and Cbus will jointly finance. The estimated cost is more than $405 million. 

At the end of the project, nine floors will have been added to the side of the heritage building, which runs down Martin Place and around the corner in Pitt Street. 

The sale was part of the Commonwealth Bank's decision to consolidate its Sydney city-based staff into the new properties at Darling Harbour, known as Commonwealth Bank Place.

The Australian Financial Review forecast the 48 Martin Place holding with its adjoining office space might fetch $150 million.