Jean Nassif’s Toplace Box Hill Masterplan Site for Sale

One of beleaguered developer Toplace Group’s sites, in Sydney’s Hills District, has come to market.

The 4.3ha site at Box Hill, about 48km north-west of the Sydney CBD, has approval for a a 22,843sq m shopping centre and 660 apartments.

Sydney developer Jean Nassif’s Toplace Group went into voluntary administration earlier this year, sparked by the developer’s building arm going into voluntary administration at the start of July in the wake of its licence being suspended, which was followed by more than 64 subsidiaries going under.

In July, administrators DVT Group said it was investigating assets and liabilities “well in excess of $1 billion”.

“The voluntary administration of Toplace may well be among one of the largest property administrations in Australia,” a spokesperson said at the time.

Receivers and managers Joseph Hansell and David McGrath, with their NSW real estate solutions lead Glen Smith of FTI Consulting, are now selling the site.

CBRE’s James Douglas, Ben Wicks and Alex Mirzaian, with Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin, Graeme Russell and Chris Maher, are conducting the on-market campaign.

The site at 29-31 Terry Road “provides a rare opportunity to secure a full line supermarket development opportunity with a complementary residential component” a spokesperson said.

The site also “benefits from a lease commitment from leading ASX-listed supermarket operator Coles Group, with strong tenant and leasing interest having also been shown across the project’s speciality component”.

▲ A render of the shopping centre approved for the site at Box Hill. Main image: The centre and Jean Nassif.

CBRE’s Wicks said the listing was expected to generate significant interest from traditional retail and mixed-use investors, supported by the site’s rapidly growing trade area.

“The residential market in north-west Sydney continues to demonstrate consistent growth in value, primarily driven by robust demand, reduced supply and investor activity being experienced within the macro market,” Wicks said.

Knight Frank’s Maher said town centre opportunities in Sydney growth centres are increasingly hard to acquire, “particularly those that integrate the kind of residential development capable at 29-31 Terry Road”.

Box Hill is a major growth area for Sydney’s north-west and is forecast to contribute about 12 per cent of the homes needed within Sydney over the next 20 years, accommodating some 90,000 new homes and a population of up to 250,000 people.

In March, Nassif put his 1.64ha site near Sydney Airport up for sale.

Nassif was granted a permit for a 96-room hotel and 444 serviced apartments across the agglomerated site and the agents said it was a develop or hold asset in a strongly contested area that he reportedly acquired for $32 million from Dexus in 2015, later buying a site at Mascot to create the holding.