Iris list white hot Parramatta Gateway development site
Prominent Sydney hotel owner and developer, Iris Group, has listed its development site in the heart of Parramatta’s Gateway precinct.
Now the sixth largest CBD in Australia with a population approaching a quarter of a million, the listing presents an opportunity to participate in what the listing agents described as "a massive building boom."
"The timing of the Iris listing could not be better, according to Savills Director Residential Site Sales, Neil Cooke, who is marketing the property with colleague Stuart Cox in conjunction with Khoury & Partners’ Anthony Khoury, George Khoury and Jon Race.
In August last year, it was reported the Chinese developer, Greenland Group, was considering the purchase of the Crown Hotel at 295 Church Street.
Cooke said the State Government has underlined the importance of Parramatta "in no uncertain terms" with, among other things, its $10 billion infrastructure investment for Parramatta and Western Sydney, including the new $1 billion Light Rail network.
“What that means for Iris Group’s Crown Hotel site at 295-309 Church Street is the confidence that State Government backing provides to developers to proceed with the sort of ambitious and exciting projects that sites such as this can deliver to a City in the midst of an incredible growth phase,” Mr Cooke said.
The 1,082 square metre site, with 35 metres frontage to Church Street and 26 metres to Phillip Lane, is located in a core CBD Gateway position, in the heart of Parramatta’s vibrant ‘Eat Street’ precinct and adjacent to the proposed $250 million Riverside tower development on the Parramatta River.
The B4 Mixed Use zoning allows for a variety of uses including commercial premises, a luxury hotel, residential tower or a combination of these uses. Parramatta City Council recently granted Gateway Approval for an increase in FSR to 10:1 with a height limit to part 12 metres and part 150 metres.
According to Anthony Khoury, a redevelopment of the site with a potential gross floor area of circa 12,000 square metres (STCA), in accordance with the Gateway Approval, would offer apartment dwellers views over Parramatta River within walking distance of Westfield Parramatta and the Parramatta bus/rail interchange and ferry terminal.
Mr Khoury declined to put a price on the property instead citing the recent sales of 135 George Street (cnr Harris Street) and the Thompson Ford site.
135 George Street – the Albion Hotel site on 3,135 square metres - was sold by Solotel after its three decade ownership in September for $60 million through Khoury & Partners with a mixed use, 26,000 square metre planning proposal.
The residential developer, Dyldam paid $70 million for the nearby 3,300 square metre Thompson Ford site at the corner of Church Street and Great Western Highway.
“The market for mixed use and or/residential development sites is white hot,” Mr Khoury said.
Offers are due December 6.