KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World International Bhd (EWI) has today secured access to a prime development land situated 12 kilometres northwest of Sydney’s central business district with plans to develop a AU$139 million gross development value (GDV) project there.
The project site is at 1-3 Lachlan Avenue, Macquarie Park, Sydney adjacent to Macquarie University in the Macquarie University Precinct.
In a statement today, EWI said the area is home to one of Australia’s top 10 universities and top two per cent universities in the world that attracts thousands of international students annually.
It is also strategically positioned within close proximity to the Macquarie Innovation Park District (MIPD), Macquarie University Train Station and Macquarie Shopping Centre.
MIPD is Sydney’s second largest business district and one of the largest business and technology precincts in the Southern Hemisphere.
“We are delighted to be able to add the Macquarie Park site, which is situated in a fast-growing location extremely popular with Sydney-siders, to our growing project portfolio in Australia.
“Our decision to focus on serving the needs of the domestic property market began with the acquisition of the Yarra One site in South Yarra, Melbourne.”
The latest deal followed EWI’s recent deals with Willmott Dixon to potentially acquire 12 projects in the UK.
“The announcement today is therefore in line with our overall strategy to localise our brand wherever we operate,” said EWI president and chief executive officer Datuk Teow Leong Seng.
EWI said at present, there is an existing building located on the project site with 30 en-bloc apartment units.
It said under the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (Australia), 75 per cent of unit owners in a strata scheme can agree to end their strata scheme, so the site can be redeveloped or sold.
EWI has also entered into a call and put option agreement with owners of 25 of the apartment units to acquire these units by way of a collective sale, representing 84.2 per cent of the strata scheme which enables the company to proceed with the acquisition of all the apartment units through a strata renewal process under the Act.
It said the estimated purchase price to acquire the entire site is about AU$40 million and the proposed acquisition is expected to be completed by November 2018.
EWI said it plans to develop 125 units of residential apartments with a small component of retail.
The project is targeted to be launched in the first half of 2019 and completed over three to four years from the date of launch.
Funding for the proposed acquisition of the Sydney project is expected to come from a combination of the proceeds of EcoWorld International’s recent IPO and bank borrowings /other debt instruments, it said.