20-05-2015, 11:37 PM
Singapore’s AV Jennings sitting in pole position for Auto Alley
THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 21, 2015 12:00AM
Lisa Allen
Property & Tourism Reporter
Sydney
Greg Brown
Property Reporter
Sydney
Singapore’s AVJennings group is in the box seat to buy Sydney’s famed Auto Alley car yard site in Parramatta to transform it into a $1 billion residential and commercial development.
The veteran housing developer, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, is in due diligence on the Church Street site at about $150 million.
But the deal is not entirely sealed given aggressive local development group Dyldam and Chinese behemoth Greenland Holding Group are still vying for the popular site, which won approvals for 780 apartments and up to 40,000sq m of commercial office space last September.
The Auto Alley deal comes as the city of Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, embarks on a big urban renewal program, including the proposed $2bn Parramatta Square redevelopment that is expected to include the construction of five major buildings.
Ray White says about 1200 apartments will be completed in Parramatta in the next 18 months, and claims a further 1677 units have won government approval.
The Turner family-controlled Boyded Industries Group listed the 14.8ha Auto Alley site, which has been used as a car yard since the 1950s, earlier this year.
The family declined to comment yesterday. Agents involved in the deal, including Colliers’ Harry Bui and Guillaume Volz, also declined to comment.
AVJennings recently said it was on track to deliver a full-year profit before tax of more than $40m for 2014-15 despite bad weather in NSW and Queensland. The company said the guidance came after it reported a 42 per cent lift in first-half profit.
The Auto Alley deal comes as other major sites in Sydney are in play, with The Australian revealing last month that Toga was the leading bidder on the $250m-plus William Inglis & Son stables in the eastern suburbs. While Toga was the leader, sources claim there were other parties still in play and a deal was between six and eight weeks away.
The owners of the Randwick property this month finally received approval from the NSW Planning and Environment Department to rezone the site, which is expected to yield a 700-apartment development.
In Parramatta, developers are jockeying for a number of sites that are being sold for apartment development.
Parramatta City Council is running a tender process for the development rights to the Aspire Tower as part of the Parramatta Square precinct, which could become Sydney’s tallest tower.
Developers Leighton and Walker have been short-listed to undertake the construction, while Parramatta-based Dyldam and private company Centurian Custodians are also in the running.
The council has proposed that Aspire Tower will stand 90 storeys, with 700 apartments in its upper levels, a 150-room hotel and ground-floor retailing.
Elsewhere, Colliers International is marketing an industrial site in Melrose Park that could be transformed into an apartment site in the medium term. Expressions of interest close next month, with a $90m price expectation.
THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 21, 2015 12:00AM
Lisa Allen
Property & Tourism Reporter
Sydney
Greg Brown
Property Reporter
Sydney
Singapore’s AVJennings group is in the box seat to buy Sydney’s famed Auto Alley car yard site in Parramatta to transform it into a $1 billion residential and commercial development.
The veteran housing developer, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, is in due diligence on the Church Street site at about $150 million.
But the deal is not entirely sealed given aggressive local development group Dyldam and Chinese behemoth Greenland Holding Group are still vying for the popular site, which won approvals for 780 apartments and up to 40,000sq m of commercial office space last September.
The Auto Alley deal comes as the city of Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, embarks on a big urban renewal program, including the proposed $2bn Parramatta Square redevelopment that is expected to include the construction of five major buildings.
Ray White says about 1200 apartments will be completed in Parramatta in the next 18 months, and claims a further 1677 units have won government approval.
The Turner family-controlled Boyded Industries Group listed the 14.8ha Auto Alley site, which has been used as a car yard since the 1950s, earlier this year.
The family declined to comment yesterday. Agents involved in the deal, including Colliers’ Harry Bui and Guillaume Volz, also declined to comment.
AVJennings recently said it was on track to deliver a full-year profit before tax of more than $40m for 2014-15 despite bad weather in NSW and Queensland. The company said the guidance came after it reported a 42 per cent lift in first-half profit.
The Auto Alley deal comes as other major sites in Sydney are in play, with The Australian revealing last month that Toga was the leading bidder on the $250m-plus William Inglis & Son stables in the eastern suburbs. While Toga was the leader, sources claim there were other parties still in play and a deal was between six and eight weeks away.
The owners of the Randwick property this month finally received approval from the NSW Planning and Environment Department to rezone the site, which is expected to yield a 700-apartment development.
In Parramatta, developers are jockeying for a number of sites that are being sold for apartment development.
Parramatta City Council is running a tender process for the development rights to the Aspire Tower as part of the Parramatta Square precinct, which could become Sydney’s tallest tower.
Developers Leighton and Walker have been short-listed to undertake the construction, while Parramatta-based Dyldam and private company Centurian Custodians are also in the running.
The council has proposed that Aspire Tower will stand 90 storeys, with 700 apartments in its upper levels, a 150-room hotel and ground-floor retailing.
Elsewhere, Colliers International is marketing an industrial site in Melrose Park that could be transformed into an apartment site in the medium term. Expressions of interest close next month, with a $90m price expectation.