Parramatta. German group looks west

German fund manager, Real I.S., is considering adding the !7-storey, 23,330-square-metre Sydney Water head office, in Parramatta, to its Australian holdings. The building is held by Brookfield Australia Investments Group and was valued at $149 million, at the end of December 2010. It is believed the building, completed in 2009 and which houses some 1400 staff, had been considered by the German group for some years, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Region. Property deals done

Specialty Packaging Group has leased for 12,621 square metres in the Smithfield Distribution Centre at 149 McCredie Road, Smithfield. The warehouse space has been leased from the Goodman Group at undisclosed terms. Ozsale has leased 17,105 square metres in the Smithfield Distribution Centre. The warehouse space has been leased from the Goodman Group at undisclosed terms. Cantarella Brothers paid $9.1 million for a 6500 square-metre industrial complex, at Wetherill and Fariola streets, in Silverwater.

Parramatta. Property sold for $19.55m

An undisclosed private investor has purchased 248 Church Street Mall, in the Parramatta CBD, for $19.55 million. The 4348-square-metre property has been purchased from CFT No.2 Pty Ltd and Lilac Pty Ltd.

Balcktown. $20.6m medical school opened

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, officially opened the $20.6 million University of Western Sydney Blacktown/Mt Druitt Clinical School, based at Blacktown Hospital. The school is one of the key training sites for the UWS School of Medicine. UWS medical students use the Clinical School facilities and the adjacent Hospital to learn their clinical and diagnostic skills while being mentored by senior specialists, nurses and allied health professionals.

Region. IKEA looks to Western Sydney

IKEA, which opens the biggest in the southern hemisphere, at Tempe, on November 3, is investigating sites in Sydney's west and north-west regions.

Westmead. Income boosts bottom line

Income from research grants has remained strong through the last 18 months generating approximately $16 million for the institute’s bottom line, according to the Children’s Medical Research Institute’s (CMRI) annual report. Fundraising efforts yielded $12 million with approximately half of this income achieved through the annual Jeans for Genes® national campaign. CMRI provides two important facilities for researchers throughout Australia. CellBank Australia supplies high-quality cell lines and cell line testing services that underpin many biomedical research activities. The Centre for Biomedical Proteomics is a unique, cutting-edge national facility that will facilitate development of drugs for a very wide range of medical conditions.