BizBriefs

German supermarket giant, Aldi, expects to open its 1000-square-metre store in the Parramatta CBD in March 2008 ... The Commonwealth Bank's planned relocation of 5000 staff to Sydney Olympic Park has been reduced to 3500 following a "minor revolution by its more senior extecutives", according to "The Australian Financial Review" ... Expressions of interest in One World Sport, in Church Street, Parramatta, close on November 23 ... UWS foundation chancellor, Sir Ian Turbott, has been honoured as the only Australian to have a pew in London's world-famous St Paul's Cathedral named after him.

$3.4 million expansion proposed at racecourse

The Sydney Turf Club has lodged a development application with Parramatta City Council for the construction of a new, two-storey building containing 100 horse stables and to extend the horse tunnel under the racing track

Benefits of relocating to business parks

One of the appeals of business parks over traditional locations, say, the Parramatta CBD, for companies looking to relocate is the benefits that can be offered to employees. For example, Optus has relocated its head office and other operations, and more than 6000 staff, to an 84,000-square-metre campus of six buildings, at Macquarie Park, which offers food outlets, a gym, a basketball court, childcare centre and sprawling gardens. Before choosing Macquarie Park, Optus mapped out the homes of all employees so as to find a location that caused minimum distruption, according to an article in "Boss" magazine.

James Hardie portfolio to be sold

Canadian firm Brookfiled Asset Management plans to sell key parts of Multiplex Group's property trust, which includes the James Hardie portfolio, which Multiplex bought in 2004 for $87.27 million. The largest asset in the portfolio is a 21-hectare site at Rosehill, which includes six hectares of industrial development land and which is on Multiplex's books at $88.6 million