The five-hectare estate, called ‘Promenade’, will sit next to Parramatta’s Baludarri Wetland, about 1.5km from the CBD of Sydney’s second city. It will feature 774 apartments across 11 separate towers, ranging from three to 12 storeys high.
It is a collaboration between Starryland, architects Smart Design Studio and landscape architects Aspect.
An Australian subsidiary of the Chinese mega development company Fuxing Huiyu Real Estate Company, which develops more than a million square metres of property a year, Starryland Australia director Hao Liu says the demand for apartments has been exceptionally strong.
“We’ve only released buildings A1 and A2 from the first stage, which is 124 apartments. It sold out over a weekend,” he said. “We’re treating it as a very high potential development area.
A further 153 apartments were reserved until displays were finalised in June. Mr Liu said demand was high for a variety of reasons including proximity to the CBD, prominent river views, plans for extensive landscaping around the site – including bike paths and bridges to the southern river bank - and competitive prices.
The initial outlay of apartments sold primarily to Asian-Australians, who Mr Liu says were attracted to the investment potential of the development.
“The first thing is that it’s a cultural thing,” he said. “Asians like investing in property and also because they are treating this project as a great investment opportunity.”
Only about 20% of property purchases so far have been purchased as investment properties, with the large majority looking to live in the Promenade complex upon its completion.
As Fuxing Huiyu’s first foray into international development, Promenade now joins over 30 other major development projects in Parramatta totaling up to $8 billion.
Mr Liu said Parramatta is coming along in leaps and bounds, and is soon to become a great city in its own right.
“Parramatta is going to be a great CBD, even bigger than Adelaide,” he said. “It is already a cosmopolitan centre with the potential to become even better. It has all the facilities of a modern city and is well served by public transport and motorways.”
Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid is on the record as stating his support for the development, telling The Australian newspaper that Parramatta’s boom in development will reap dividends in the future.
“These will be a combination of retail, residential and commercial, and over 30 storeys,” he said. “That’s what we want to see as a city: sustainable development that provides jobs and livelihood.”
And Starryland have no intentions of stopping at Parramatta, having already purchased an $18 million Southbank property in Melbourne last year.
Mr Liu said Starryland wish to be a long-term player in the Australian market and that several investment options are on the table, including in Sydney’s CBD.
“We are also looking for large lands to do town houses, and also maybe some other projects, some new apartments,” he said. “We’re still looking, we don’t have a particular area - it really depends on the location and on the return.”
Apartment prices for Promenade range from $399,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to $830,000 for a three-bedroom unit.
Work is scheduled to start in late June, and be completed in about two years.
