The developer of the $15 million Wynne tower, Kogarah's first commercial development in almost 20 decades, has called on the state government to step-up and help revive the suburb's economy.
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Danny Daher opened the Wynn tower at 24 Montgomery Street two years ago.
About 65 per cent of the building is leased with the main tenants lawyers and accountancy firms.
New tenants include the office of the Federal Member for Barton and Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Linda Burney, and the offices of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA).
Mr Daher's company, Wynn Constructions, has many residential developments across the Sydney metropolitan area.
But when he came to redeveloping the Montgomery Street site he opted to build commercial.
"Kogarah has done its fair share of providing residential," he said.
"There was no competition for commercial space in Kogarah," he said. "My philosophy is build it and they will come. The aim was bringing business to the area for economic purposes."
Mr Daher, who has a long-term presence in St George, said he wants the best for the area.
He is proud of the heritage restoration of the historic Leah Terraces fronting Montgomery Street which has maintained the original streetscape.
"It is a mixture of old and new," he said. "From a development perspective it was a chance to save heritage and build something that will bring new business to Kogarah.
"Out of the four asset classes - retail, institutional, commercial and residential, commercial is the one that is struggling the most. This reflects what is happening in Kogarah. We are trying to turn that around by providing an A-class commercial building."
NATSIHA chief operations officer, Rob Macfarlane moved into the building last November.
"We looked at a lot of locations across Sydney but this was the best in terms of accessibility," Mr Macfarlane said.
"It's a pretty good hub, considering we are representing First Nations housing, with having Linda Burney in the building and NSW Premier Chris Minns around the corner.
"It's very good to work in and the coffee shop is a great place to have a meeting. Because of the layout it's very relaxing. The building looks quite nice on the outside with the heritage facade and is very modern inside," he said.
Mr Daher sees the building as a litmus test for the post-COVID economy of Kogarah.
"How do we improve the economy? This building has got to be the catalyst. With us in the mix we are trying to attract more business to the area," he said.
"It's up to corporate Australia. We also need to attract more government tenancies. Kogarah is a bonafide medical precinct. We hope to attract more medical tenants. With its set-up and location this building is a fantastic site for medical use such as an IVF clinic."
The nine-level building has a five-star NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) rating for environmental performance including energy savings.
The buildig has 2,900 square-metres of space with suites ranging from 50sqm to 500sqm.
"We have end-of-trip facilities. People can bike to work, shower, change and go up to the office," Mr Dahersaid.
"The cafe on the ground floor is a lively meeting place to catch-up and conduct business. Many of the floors have sweeping district views.
"I'm stepping up to the mark to get business back to Kogarah and we now need the state government to also step-in and open the courthouse and return Kogarah to a bustling economic hub."
