Parramatta. Sale of government offices

The NSW government is preparing to offer for sale a package of office towers worth an estimated $400 million, which is likely to include government offices in Parramatta, with the government hoping to hook buyers by offering long lease terms, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Parramatta. Towers in Parramatta Swuare

Lord Mayor Lorraine Wearne will announce today, at the annual State of the City Address, the first two buildings in its 3-hectare Parramatta Square area, formerly known as Civic Place. Grimshaw and Architectus are expected to lodge DAs in a few months and, once approved, council will seek development and finance partners. Grimshaw’s winning design is a 65-storey mixed-use tower on the Hungry Jack’s site on the corner of Church and Darcy streets. Architectus designed a 27,000-square-metre office tower on the corner of Macquarie and Smith Streets.

Parramatta. Buyers' market

Parramatta has emerged as a buyer's market to rival North Sydney for office towers with development keenly sought after on solid yields and high, long-term occupancy potential, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The area is a strong enclave for the public service with federal and NSW government departments moving to the Parramatta CBDF in the past few years. This has led to the CBD having a number of highly rated green star properties as the public service must lease sites with four or more green stars under the two governments' sustainability programs. ''While some developers and investors are focused on the core CBD markets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the 'smart money' is now looking at the major suburban markets, making Parramatta an ideal opportunity,'' said John Macree, from Jones Lang LaSalle.

Parramatta. Appeal of office space

The sales and investment appeal of the Parramatta Office market is steadily growing. according to Knight Frank’s latest Parramatta office Market Review. With markets such as North Sydney having generated a critical mass of transactions attention is now shifting towards Parramatta by virtue of its size, tight vacancy profile and solid rental prospects. The total office market in Parramatta is 685,371 square metres. The vacancy rate is 9.6 per cent. The average gross rent for prime grad space is $422. per square metre.

Parramatta. Imbalance in demand and supply

The Parramatta office market was heading towards an imbalance between supply and demand, according to Michael Fenton, NSW MD, of Jones Lang LaSalle. “The Parramatta area is in desperate need of new supply if it is going to meet the expansion of existing tenants. Given much of the vacancy only exists in small parcels, there are no options available to larger users within the Parramatta market that would like to upgrade, expand or relocate within the market,” Mr Fenton said in The Sydney Morning Herald. The best solution he said would be for the development of a medium-size office building to be undertaken speculatively. Parramatta was attracting government-related state and federal departments.

Parramatta. Proposal for 14-storey office block

Webb Property Investment Pty Ltd has applied for the demolition of the existing buildings, at 89 George Street, in the Parramatta CBD, and for the construction of a 14-storey commercial building with ground floor café, 12 levels of office s pace and four levels of basement car parking. The site, with a frontage of 18.3 metres and an area of 1353 square metres, is currently occupied by Better Brakes and Lindus Dry Cleaning. The Department of Planning has the application on public exhibition until August 27.

Parramatta. CBD office market report

Some 34 per cent, or 229,967 square metres, of the Parramatta CBD total office space of 682,557 square metres, is A-grade stock, according to the Knight Frank’s latest Parramatta Office Market Overview. The average gross face rent for A-grade is $419 a square metre. That for the secondary market is $353 a square metre. The A-grade vacancy rate is 2.4 per cent, 13.5 per cent for the secondary market and 9.8 per cent for the market overall. The A-grade vacancy has redcued from 35,000 square metres four years ago to less thatan 5000 square metres currently, the report said.

Parramatta. Office development activity

Following the completion of the Sydney Water headquarters in 2009 there have been no new development starts in the Parramatta market, according to Knight Frank’s latest Parramatta Office Market Overview. The key future development sites are all actively seeking pre-commitments to trigger construction. These include 150 Phillip Street, 111 George Street, 2 Fitzwilliam Street and 60 Station Street. Following previous legal issues, Grocon is now set to commence site works on the [Parramatta City Council’s $1.6 billion] mixed-use development in early 2011, with Stage I constisting of 35,000 square metres of office accommodation, of which the major portion is pre-committed to by Parramatta Council, the report said.

Parramatta. Strong demand for office space

The depth of demand for office space in Parramatta from both corporate and government tenants is strong and this needs to be satisfied in the short-term to ensure they are not lost to other suburban markets, according to Knight Frank’s latest Parramatta Office Market Overview. With A-grade space at negligible levels [2.4 per cent] and current enquiry for prime grade space up to 15,000 square metres, the real threat to the market will be the ability to continue to attract government tenants, which represent around 40 per cent of all existing enquiry, in particular the smaller departments that can’t underpin new development, the report said.

Parramatta. Education dept leases space

The NSW Department of Education and Training will be the anchor tenant, leasing 6500 square metres of office space, in the Signature Tower, at 2 Wentworth Street, in the Parramatta CBD, on a five-year term for an initial effective rent of $360 per square metre. The building, now 95 per cent leased, is the largest leasing transaction in the CBD in three years, according to The Australian Financial Review The B-Grade is owned and managed by Charter Hall Direct Property Fund.

Parramatta. Office buildings for sale

Expressions of interest in three office buildings in the Parramatta CBD close on March 26. The NSW Government occupies 74 per cent of a building, at 93 George Street, which has parking for 152 cars. The estimated net income is $2.3 million. A building, at 80 George Street, has an occupancy of 97 per cent, with an estimated net income of $3 million. It has parking for 103 cars. The NSW Government occupies 70 per cent of a building, at 108 Church Street, near Westfield Parramatta, It has 41 cars spaces and an estimated net income over $1 million. Knight Frank Sydney is handling the sale of all three properties.