The Faulkner’s Cordial Factory has formed an iconic part of Narrabri’s history and streetscape since 1891.
The building is poised to take a step into its next 100 years in the community with expressions of interest for a new tenant now open.
Property owner, civil engineer, and founder and CEO of The Exchange, Jillian Kilby, is this driving force for the building’s next chapter. She purchased the precinct back in 2021, opening The Exchange Narrabri, a co-working, office, meeting and event space in the Ice Works part of the complex in May 2022.
“We’ve had The Exchange open now for 3 years in Narrabri, and it’s been incredibly successful, not only as a fantastic space for the community, but also in bringing this beautiful old Narrabri red brick building back to life,” said Ms Kilby.
“The pre-existing lease on the Cordial Factory building came up for renewal this year so it was the perfect opportunity to turn our attention to start working on a new vision for the cordial factory.”
Ms Kilby is no stranger to heritage restorations, having 5 separate renovations in regional NSW now under her belt. Keeping these buildings alive and functional is very much a passion.
“It is such a privilege to be able to protect these iconic buildings – the heritage listing components are what adds value and what makes them special and unique,” said Ms Kilby.
“This is really something that we want our new tenants to believe and realise too, it is also a privilege to be able to occupy such an important landmark. We want someone that respects the value of the building, that lets it become a part of their team culture and part of the reason why this will be a building that their team will want to work in.”
“The Narrabri community have all been very supportive of what we’re trying to achieve which has just been wonderful.”
The building of course does have a number of heritage components that are protected but Ms Kilby says that the large, open plan nature of the construction leaves the building with a lot of options in terms of space usage.
“The internal spaces of the building really lend themselves to a wide variety of configurations, but the DA that we have in place ensure that the important things such as the red bricks, the unique, shipwright-made roof trusses, and the stone basement in the cellar will all add to the character of the restoration works,” said Ms Kilby.
“We’ve also made it so that the central kitchen area will open out into the courtyard that joins the building to The Exchange so it’s a really cohesive space.”
Ms Kilby is offering support to whoever takes on the lease throughout the whole restoration process.
“We’ve learned how to do heritage well and want to empower the new tenants to become custodians of this property. We’re happy to really support whoever takes the building on – as little or as much as they want,” said Ms Kilby.
“The main thing is that people shouldn’t be scared of a heritage building like this, there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain from becoming a part of local history. The value of having your business name attached to a pivotal landmark really can’t be overstated.”
Principal agent for Hennessy Real Estate, Ben Hennessy, is the agent in charge of helping Ms Kilby find Faulkner’s Cordial’s perfect match.
The listing has only been officially live on the market for the last two weeks but he said they’ve already had a few enquiries.
“Older buildings can present some challenges and limitations which scare people sometimes but with Jillian’s team on hand I really think that negates most concerns that could be presented about the future use of the building,” said Mr Hennessy.
“Jillian is great, she’s got such a clear vision of what she wants for the property and I’m really confident that we’re going to find a business that is a great fit.”
He’s also hopeful that, whoever decides to move in will be a great fit for Narrabri as a community as well.
“Narrabri has such a strong economy at the moment, we’ve seen 20% property growth in the region in the last 12 months so there’s definitely a lot of opportunity,” said Mr Hennessy.
“It’d be great to find a tenant that will be complementary to The Exchange so I think it probably lends itself well to maybe a government agency or some kind of professional firm but we’re really open to discussing all options, including multiple tenants in the building.”
“A new business to the town is always fantastic opportunity to promote jobs and growth in the region.”
Expressions of interest for the Faulkner’s Cordial Building are open now and Mr Hennessy encourages anyone who’s interested to get in touch with Hennessy Real Estate. Full property listing details are available on the Hennessy Real Estate website.
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