Development looms as Marprop re-enters Parramatta

The group, which is chaired by Charter Hall co-founder Andre Biet, has jumped on a tower at 126 Church St that has an immediate capacity to generate a yield of 9.6%, fully leased.

But the group is more likely to be interested in the 12-storey tower’s redevelopment potential.

Report: Low growth and yields a permanent fixture

Sitting at the centre of one of the suburb’s busiest strips, the building faces Westfield Parramatta and is adjacent to the suburb’s major transport hub.

It has transacted at a time when a wave of new infrastructure including a new light-rail network, better train connections and a new civic plaza is luring some of the country’s biggest developers to the suburb on apartment and office redevelopment projects.

“It has excellent repositioning potential,” says chief executive James Marshall, who calls the purchase a strategic move.

The Parramatta tower is adjacent to the suburb’s transport hub.

“Parramatta is expected to continue to benefit from strong tenant demand and the current major infrastructure investment which includes the new light rail and Parramatta Square.”

The latest sale was handled by John McCann of Colliers International and Marprop’s head of investments, Fabian Liaw, who joined Marprop earlier in the year after a lengthy career with Mirvac Group.

It comes less than a year after the private developer and property investor netted $38 million selling out of the suburb when it offloaded another tower at 93 Church St to the Hannan family’s Rathdrum Properties after owning it for less than two years.

McCann, who was also involved the sale of 93 George St, says that with the strong fundamentals of the Parramatta property market, the firm is keen to re-enter the market. Both campaigns were strongly contested, he says.

This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.