Parramatta. Council endorses $45m project

Council resolved to forward a $45 million redevelopment at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), at Westmead, to the Department of Planning. The proposal is for a staged construction, over a 10-15-year period, of a project including laboratories, library, boardrooms and administration areas and underground parking Stage one will be a 6-storey building and stage two a 5-storey building. The project will house an expected 540 people. The total area of the redevelopment will be 17,527 square metres, up from 4,500 square metres currently.

Region. Cheapest rents in the region

Western Sydney was the cheapest place to rent accommodation, according to Housing Minister, David Borger, when releasing the latest edition of Housing NSW’s Rent and Sales Report, which covered Jan to March 09 for rents. The report showed the cheapest place to rent a four-bedroom home was in Campbelltown (at an average of $360 per week), followed by Penrith and Wollondilly ($380), Hawkesbury ($395), Fairfield ($400) and Blacktown ($425). The cheapest place to rent a one-bedroom home was in Blacktown or Bankstown ($180), Fairfield ($185), Liverpool ($188), Holroyd ($218) and Canterbury ($230).

Rooty Hill. Hotel to be upgraded

The 158-room Holiday Inn, at Rooty Hill, one of five such establishments in the metropolitan area and the only one in Western Sydney, has been slated for “significant changes both inside and outside”, and a logo makeover. No timeframe has been given. More than 700 properties around the world are to be “revitalised”, the company said. Holiday Inn is part of the InterContinental Hotels Group

Parramatta. Patronage on Sydney Ferries

Figures from the Ministry of Transport’s Data Transport Centre showed that 10 per cent of the patronage on Sydney Ferries, of around 14 million passengers annually (2006) came from services along the Parramatta River. The share of journey-to-work figures to the Sydney CBD from Parramatta was: ferry, 3 per cent; vehicle, 21 per cent; bus/train, 74 per cent.

Parramatta. Sydney Water returns to CBD

Sydney Water’s connections to Parramatta date from 1916, when the Sydney Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board took over the supply of water and sewerage services to Parramatta. Sydney Water closed its last office in Parramatta in 2004 but has returned with the opening of its 23,000-square-metre head office, housing 1400 staff., on a site, at 1 Smith Street, bought for $15 million in 2003. Brookfield Multiplex owns the facility. Sydney Water’s rent is $385 per square metre Around 38 per cent of all Sydney Water office staff live in Greater Western Sydney,

North Ryde. MGSM made profit of $4.8m

The Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), the only stand-alone school of management in Australia, made a $4.8 million profit last year, according to a report to parliament by the NSW Auditor-General. MGSM held assets worth $9 million at December 31. MGSM will remain separate from the faculty of economics and commerce, following a review. In 2005, The UWS Sydney Graduate School of Management, was placed within the College of Law and all business and staff of SGSM Ltd was transferred to the university.

Region. Employment in centres

Figures from the Ministry of Transport’s Data Transport Centre showed employment in various centres (2006) was: Parramatta CBD, 34234; Macquarie Park, 31,982; Wetherill Park, 16,226; Liverpool CBD, 13,597; Campbelltown CBD, 13,270; Westmead, 13,008; Penrith CBD, 11,704; Rhodes/Sydney Olympic Park, 11,696; Huntingdale/Arndell Park/Eastern Creek, 11,013; Norwest Business Park, 10,395.