Payce, the Australian owned property company behind the Melrose Park precinct, and privately owned developer Deicorp will join forces to deliver a key retail and residential site on the multi-billion-dollar western Sydney project.
The agreement on the latest $700-million development follows the New South Wales department of planning’s decision earlier this month to rezone the land from general industrial to a mix of residential, open space, educational, retail and commercial uses.
Known as Melrose Central, it will form the main service, entertainment and shopping area for the entire 55ha Melrose Park precinct, about 7km east of Parramatta.
The development will include 500 apartments, 30,000sq m of retail space, a 4000-sq-m private hospital, a medical centre, supermarkets, childcare and a gymnasium.
Critically, it will have its own station on stage two of the Parramatta Light Rail link. Last month, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet said his government would push ahead with the second stage of the $2.4-billion infrastructure project.
The next step for the partnership is further planning approval from Parramatta City Council.
“Melrose Central will see the creation of around 1500 permanent jobs in retail and commercial services, while providing well-located housing a stone’s throw from Sydney’s second CBD,” Payce spokesperson Dominic Sullivan said.
“We are delighted to be working with Payce on what will become the key destination on the route of the new light rail that links Parramatta with Sydney Olympic Park,” Deicorp chairman Fouad Deiri said.
“And with a new station on the doorstep of the site, it reinforces our shared commitment to delivering great transport connected developments.”
The $6-billion project, which, Payce says, during the construction phase will create 15,000 jobs and when completed another 1500 permanent positions, dates back to 2014 when the developer began buying up lots along Wharf Road in Melrose Park.
In February of 2016, Payce inked an agreement to acquire further property at 657-661 Victoria Road and 4-6 Wharf Road from Aqualand Australia for $160 million.
That same year, the Parramatta council decided to split the precinct into northern and southern parts to better manage the planning process. Payce, in partnership with developer Sekisui House Australia, owns the 25ha making up the northern precinct.
“Look, it's a very significant project,” Sullivan said. “It’s one of the biggest single-ownership projects in Sydney.”
Preliminary site works have already begun with major construction work starting later this year. When completed, it will be one of the few precincts in Sydney serviced by bus, light rail, ferry and nearby to both heavy rail and a Metro station.
“And the beauty of this project, which is why the development industry should be excited, is that it’s really ticking the box on all the integrated requirements,” Sullivan said.
“Everything from infrastructure to education—there’ll be a new school site—to transport, to retail and residential. It’s all covered in this one plan.
“We are often criticised for not thinking about all forms of infrastructure, both hard and social and all the rest of it, but this project is actually delivering on all those key requirements.”
