Parramatta. Sydney Metro info session

Sydney Metro, which has lodged a project application and preliminary environmental assessment to build stage 2 of the Sydney Metro Network – a 24 kilometre underground line from Central to Westmead – will hold a community information session, at the Parramatta RSL, from 10.00am to 2.00pm, on Saturday, October 17.

Bankstown. Increase in passenger traffic

The Sydney Metro Airports Draft Plan for Bankstown Airport, currently on public exhibition, has forecast between 16 and 32 passenger aircraft takeoffs or landings per day, up from 12 per day in the current approved master plan. This increase is based on the minimum number needed to create a successful commercial operation from Bankstown to Melbourne, Brisbane and NSW regional destinations. The forecast 32 movements per day would less than 4 per cent of the current traffic. The vast majority of activity at Bankstown is general aviation aircraft. The draft plan does not include any intention to bring larger (Boeing 737, A320 etc) passenger aircraft to the airport, or to develop Bankstown Airport as the second Sydney airport.

Parramatta. Office building for sale

A six-storey office building, at 20 Charles Street, in the eastern precinct of the Parramatta CBD, will be auctioned on November 11. The building, on a site of 2230 square metres, has a net lettable area of 5382 square metres, with 164 parking spaces.

North Ryde. Optus looks for more space

Optus has appointed CB Richard Ellis to look for potential sites of up to 5000 square metres, in Macquarie Park. Optus relocated its head office from North Sydney, in 2007, to a $350 million state-of-the-art complex, the largest single tenant campus-style workplace in Australia, with a total gross floor area of 159,400 square metres, which includes 84,000 square metres of net lettable area and basement car parking for over 2000 vehicles.

Parramatta. CBD office market

Parramatta has shown volatility in the past with speculative supply hampering improvement in office vacancies, according to independent valuer and research firm, LandMark White, which said the Parramatta market was unlikely to be as strongly affected as the North Ryde market, given the high exposure to the public sector. “Overall, the Parramatta Market typically sees an equilibrium vacancy rate of about 9 to 10 per cent – currently the vacancy rate is sitting at 9.5 per cent,” according to LandMark White, in The Sydney Morning Herald.