Parramatta. The arts promote investment

The arts are important in promoting Parramatta and its image, offering increased potential for investments and attracting business. Council’s arts and culture project officer, Andrew Overton, has been awarded the prestigious Brendan Hartnett Award, at the NSW Local Government Cultural Awards. He was influential in the establishment of the Parramatta Artists’ Studios, the Connect performing arts hub, in the Connection Arcade, and the management of the new Parramatta Cultural Trust.

Parramatta. Rise in office vacancy

Total office vacancy in Parramatta, in the six months to January 2009, rose by 2.8 percentage points to 10.1 per cent, the highest level since July 2006. Despite this, grade A vacancy remained just 20 basis points above the lowest level recorded at 3.1 per cent, with at just 6471 sq m vacant as at January 2009, according to the CBRE Sydney Metropolitan Office Marketview

Homebush. Pace calls off $110m deal

Property developer Payce Consolidated has called off a $100 million deal with Singapore’s Thakral Corporation after apartment sales had picked up and debts had been slashed, in its Palermo and Valencia developments, at Homebush, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Region. Mansours in liquidation

Manchester and home furnishings retailer, the family-owned Mansours Pty Ltd,, has been placed into liquidation, with about 50 staff to lose their jobs. following a downturn in sales partly caused by the global financial crisis, according to. BRI Ferrier. Twenty-one of its 29 NSW stores will go, The company has five stores in Western Sydney