The Australian reports that plans for Westfield Parramatta Shopping Centre to be transformed into a $2bn retail and office complex have won conditional support from the NSW Planning Assessment Commission.
The tentative green light reportedly comes despite initial concerns by Parramatta city councillors about the scale of the retail aspect of the development and qualms about traffic and car parking.
Westfield plans to add 31,500 sqm of retail space to the existing five-level complex, topping it with a new 20-storey office tower, while adding an estimated 1,100 above-ground car spaces.
Westfield Group has a 25 per cent stake in the centre, alongside Westfield Retail Trust, which also holds a quarter share.
The other half is owned by the Singapore government's property investment arm GIC Real Estate.
Meanwhile, total land value in Holroyd City Council LGA has increased by more than $1 billion in the last three years, according to data released by NSW Valuer General Philip Western.
Residential land and commercial land value has shown an overall increase in the area while there has been a slight drop in the value of industrial properties.
Mr Western said the major factor contributing to the increased value was demand for development sites following zoning changes in Holroyd City Council's Local Environment Plan.
More than 27,000 valuation notices, based on market conditions as at July 1, 2013, were recently issued to land owners.
Only the value of the land is provided in the notices, which do not include the price of homes or other improvements on the property.
“Property sales are the most important factor considered when determining land values,” he said, adding that valuers took a number of factors into consideration determining land values
The NSW Valuer General said land valuations would be used by councils to determine rates, and also by the NSW Office of Revenue to calculate land tax that property owners will pay this year.
In both Ashfield and Burwood, land values also increased by roughly the same amount over the same period.
Mr Western said 9,492 notices of valuation had been issued to landholders in Ashfield, and 7,785 in Burwood.
The valuation program analysed a total of 117 residential, 27 commercial and four industrial sales in Ashfield and 106 residential and 36 commercial sales in Burwood.
The total land value in the Ashfield LGA was about $6.98 billion, up from $5.96 billion on July 1, 2010. Burwood LGA’s total land value was about $6.16 billion, up from $5.18 billion on July 1, 2010.
Every year approximately one third of Local Government Areas receive new valuations to assist with their rates modelling.
Some 774,000 notices of valuations were expected to be sent to ratepayers in 57 LGAs last month, showing the value of properties based on market conditions as at July 1, 2013.
