Property GWSRR

Western Sydney’s property forecasts

The Property Insights Round Table in action.

Jim Taggart: Can I just say, on behalf of Access – Michael Walls (publisher Western Sydney Business Access)– Ross Grove, Property Council Director for Western Sydney, we’re delighted to have you here. And I mean that very much. I think about business, and I think about what do you with people. Do you have a strong eye for opportunity, absolutely. I’m very grateful for the people as a legacy of where I am. And I say that from the bott om of my heart.

Just some rules around how this session will be reported. It’s Chatham House rules in the context of what is said in this room. Each of you will receive an edited transcript of today’s proceedings. Th is is a confi dential document. You will be given time to edit your comments for clarity or to correct any sensitivities prior to the record being published for public consumption in Western Sydney Business Access. Ross, would you like to add anything?

Ross Grove: Th ank you, Michael, for the opportunity to put this event on. I am 18 months into my new role as the Western Sydney Regional Director at the Property Council of Australia. I’m Western Sydney born and bred. And arrive in my current role having come from local government previously. So, I’ve had some exposure to the industry, and what’s been identifi ed over the last – at least in the last decade – is Western Sydney has its own trajectory. Western Sydney has always had property developers, but we’re seeing more the emergence of new type of local developer, with a focus on improving the quality of their product and have got ownership – personal ownership, corporate ownership – and deep roots within the Western Sydney community. Th ey are helping shape the lifestyle of the people who live here, and seeking to shift the surrounds where they live. And so, the reason I’ve got the people around the room that we have is because you’re either part of that cohort or you provide them with services.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you, Ross. We are going to swing into introductions now and Peter, I’m going to start with you. You bring a richness to your role. And I know if people don’t know you, they’ll certainly want to meet you ASAP. Over to you, Peter.

Peter Poulett (via Zoom): Look, I apologise again for not being with you. I intended to be. However, circumstances got in the way. I’m here virtually, but in spirit I’m actually in the room.I’m the Central City Commissioner and also the Southern District Commissioner. But I’m also playing a role at Western Sydney University as Professor of Practice of Architecture. What’s interesting about that is I think it is the future for the West – this spanning of boundaries, this breaking down of silos which, particularly in government, has been part of the problem where each individual agency have gone about doing their own thing for a long time, and there’s not been a coordinating or an att empt to bridge the gaps that occur. And you’ve all in the industry suff ered from that sort of disjuncture.

So, the Greater Sydney Commission is part of trying to redress that as a problem. And it stems from education and bridging the gap even further and bringing all of the players in the industry together to make for a bett er Western Sydney. And so, that’s what I’m about. And so, it interests me to work across disciplines, across agencies, across government – tiers of government – to get the best outcome possible. So I’m there to help get the best product, get the best result for communities for business in the west.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you, Peter. Angela? KPMG. Th ank you for being here.

Angela Haynes: Yes. Hi everybody. I’m with KPMG and I’m the fi nancial adviser to the State Government or various State Government agencies around fi nancial issues. I’ve been working I guess recently on Roads and on Rail projects – and helping Government with major contracts.

Jim Taggart: Th at’s exciting. Remon Fayad? Jim Taggart: Chris?

Chris Abouhamad: My name is Chris Abouhamad and I am the Director of Eastern Pacifi c. We are in the business of both property development and construction and have a range of projects across Western Sydney.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you, Chris. Leanne?

Leanne Pilkington: I’m the President of the Real Estate Institute of NSW and also the CEO of the Laing & Simmons brand.

Neil Hill: My name is Neil Hill and I am the Regional Transport Leader – Australia for Woods Bagot. Woods Bagot is a global fi rm with a signifi cant presence in Western Sydney including Th e Mills at Liverpool and 8 Phillip Street in Parramatt a. Prior to joining I’ve supported clients involved with transport links including the Sydney’s North West Metro and I’m passionate about recognising the synergies between the various components of a project can make for stronger design outcomes, leading to more engaging, activated spaces.

Remon Fayad: Remon Fayad, Ellerson Property. We’re mixed-use residential developers in Western Sydney.

Jim: Th ank you. Pierre?

Pierre Wakim: Pierre Wakim, I’m the Managing Partner of Greater Western Sydney’s KPMG offi ce. I work predominantly in the construction industry – builders and developers.

Mario Khaicy: Mario Khaicy.I’m the founder and managing director of Northpoint Construction Group.We’ve had 25 years’ experience now and we call ourselves boutique inside the construction industry. So, our philosophy is to focus on a set number of projects, manage them extremely well and come out the other side so that customers who are enjoying the benefi ts of these apartments predominantly for the experience of a more harmonious strata vibe.

Continued from page 20 and I have worked in Parramatt a for many years. I founded my business, Trifalga, as an architectural fi rm but we have evolved into a diversifi ed investment fi rm with interests in mixed-use residential, retail, industrial and commercial property, either to operate or add value.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you for sharing that. Just a couple of quick things. We’ll take your photo, so we have images of today’s proceedings and this session is being recorded so, I hope that meets with your approval. Th e transcript will be about 12,000 words. So, there’s a lot of work to come from the next two hours. Let’s get right into it. Th is is a question I want to pose–when you build in Western Sydney, what do you think is being put there that’s not in other regions? In your imagination, creativity, innovation, what is happening in Western Sydney that’s not identifi able in the other regions.

Neil Hill: I think it is a mistake to group all of Western Sydney together when it comes to design. Western Sydney has a variety of housing types and communities which refl ect the people that live there and supporting transport environment.

It’s an enormous area, but it’s actually a really really diff erent and diverse area that has so much potential, a mixture of skilled people and particularly transport links that are so much bett er than they were before.

Jim Taggart: Th anks for that, Neil. I’m going to go to Peter.

Peter Poulet: I totally agree. Everybody in the East or everywhere else in Sydney lumps Western Sydney in as one enormous mass. It’s actually made up of so many individual communities, so many individual places that have unique properties and unique aspirations and unique possibilities that it makes it a very rich place to work.

And so, when you work in those individual communities, places, aspirations, you express those to the best of your ability, and that makes for good places and good architecture.

Having said that, what I’m trying to do at Western Sydney University is empower the architects of the future to think this way – to think collaboratively, to think in a cross-disciplinary, cross-agency, cross – you know – a way to knit these ideas together to make things that are special for those particular communities.

Jim Taggart: Peter. When you say “collaboration”, what types of industry, what types of people, what type engagement are you really referring to?

Peter Poulet: I’m going to slander my own profession here. Some architects are so “up” themselves, that they’ve become irrelevant to the development industry. It’s not about aesthetics. It’s about understanding a creative and innovative way to procure good architecture, good buildings, good community serving buildings. Th at’s what your development industry wants to do as well. Developers want their buildings to sell. So, they want quality outcomes.

Architects need to help deliver that by understanding, you know, the property cycle, the property industry, the fi nancial industry, government regulation, the politics of what you’re trying to achieve. Th at’s a very complex mix that you all deal with. And architects are going: Oh no. It’s got to be purple. It can’t be pink. I don’t care what colour it is, to be honest. It’s got to be fi t for the community that you’re building for, and understanding of all those contingent elements that go to make up a project.

So, the training that we’re trying to give to architects is to put them into property development – into other architectural fi rms – into other businesses that help them understand how to do business and how to help business work bett er. So, it’s a generational shift . My architects are all going to get on-the-job training, so to speak – not only as architects, but as creative thinkers in that community of property development.

Jim Taggart: Th ere’s one guest we haven’t introduced. I’m going to go to you, Murray. Th ank you very much for

being here. Just a very quick overview of how you fi t with the scenario...

Murray Donaldson: I’m Murray Donaldson, I’m the Director of the Parramatt a offi ce at Urbis. I really echo the sentiment that Peter and Neil had about one size doesn’t fi t all in Western Sydney.

Th ere is a lot of interest when really it comes to the question about what a project does for Western Sydney from the point of view of community and how to build something that a lot of people want and see. And we did a lot of research around what people’s preferences are, to establish parameters around what residents of higher density communities in Western Sydney are looking for.

We know that their preferences changing but, they don’t want to move from those great communities that they have lived in and established through their sort of third generation of living there. Western Sydney has changed in perceptions because in the 1970s and 80s people aspired to be somewhere else – from Western Sydney to somewhere else, but our research showed want to stay in Western Sydney, and that we need to provide excellent community, and a really great sense of place in response to what people can aff ord in the housing market.

So, we’ve seen a lot of great apartment projects, large scale apartment projects close to amenities and retail conveniences. And within those those communities, there is a subset of people who are telling us from the research that they’re looking for alternatives as well to those types of products – so, whether it’s townhouses,

whether it’s medium density and highrise combined there’s more than one modern solution.

Mercure Parramatta, venue for the event.

The Round Table prepares to meet.

Mario Khaicy: There are many great apartment projects that combine a mix of businesses and amenities. We are already finding that people want to have a combination of product on a site with a mixture of units, townhouses and also retail. Having those conveniences on the side. So, whether it’s fresh fruit and vegetable produce, groceries, being able to come back from work within minutes. On the site or nearby, people in Western Sydney do want that advantage.

Ross Grove: I just want to come back to one thing. Peter, you made mention of the practice of architecture and I’m sure a number of people around the room will have their own challenges in negotiating with this profession.

You had a compelling opening line in this space. I just want to get some reactions from people who have grown their business using architects of a range of qualities in this space. If anyone wants to. Bear in mind, we are happy to provide confidentiality. I have no issues with keeping people anonymous when preparing a final transcript.

Joe Abboud: Our intention was to create some really good outcomes that were actually deliverable. But you can go and design something to try to a win a design award, but it may never be built, or if it does the poor guy building it went broke in the process, so there needs to be an element of reality that needs to come with what’s going on out there.

The other thing I’d like to add is: if, with your influence (to Peter Poulet), you could try and have them peel back the amount of rules and regulations and red tape we’re facing. I mean, you can’t empower creativity with too many rules. I think that’s limiting in its approach.

One of the things we tried to do was step outside of those rules and create a better sense of living in these places by breaking the rules in a way - not because we’re out there to upset anyone in the process, but sometimes the rules can’t be “one size fits all”.

I think everything needs to be specific. But when it’s with very generic controls that have you deal with the same set of controls for a property that’s 5 metres wide, 50 metres or, a thousand acres - that can only breed a bad outcome.

So, I think if they can peel back the amount of rules and regs, I think that’s a step in the right direction.

And then also, too, these design competitions – I mean they’re fantastic if you’re going to, you know, potentially deliver better outcomes – potentially. I don’t necessarily agree with all that.

But what about time? What about the amount of time and money that’s being spent in trying to deliver a better outcome? But the poor bloke’s going broke in the process trying to, you know, win a design comp.

The State Government’s built some recent expedition panels and stuff at the Department as you know in BTR (build to rent) and in data centre spaces and various State Significant Development. And I had a meeting recently with the Department and we were trying to talk about trying to expedite a process. And then he said, you’ve got to do a design comp, so now I’m going in there for an expedition of a State Significant Development but I’ve got now still dealing with six months and a million dollars worth of, you know,

Leanne Pilkington, Mario Khaicy and Jim Taggart.

Continued from page 21 expense that is unnecessary – honestly. I think all the top firms can deliver design excellence without a design competition. And I think it’s flawed in its process. And I think all of that process has hijacked the efficiency for us to deliver. I think that’s a problem there.

Angela Haynes: Can I just ask a question? The design competitions – do the people participating in those, do they get any cost recovery?

Joe Abboud: No no, they do. The Government pay for it – right? So at the moment in – I think in the City of Sydney that this was a minimum cost of $150,000 per architect – six architects – for a design competition.

I mean, six architects, a million dollars later and four months to run through the process between delivering a design comp. You know. All this money needs to be spent – all this time – and the guy’s just burning a hole in his pocket, waiting to deliver –the amount of demand on supply for residential is the reason why we’ve got a problem with inflation of prices – is because there is no supply.

So, you’ve got the supply issue, and then you’ve got a process that is working totally at loggerheads with the objective. That’s a recipe for failure.

Peter Poulet: It’s a fairly common story I hear. It’s equally frustrating for architects who burn the midnight oil doing competitions that they don’t win. Admittedly they get some cost recovery. But they spend – probably spend more money than they should, because they’re not really astute business people. But that’s something I try to teach them.

I’d like to talk to you about getting some of my students to work with basically all you guys so that they do get this experience that we talked about. I think that’s very valuable. I agree, a rulesbased order will never get you great designs. That’s the problem with planning. They think they can set parameters to achieve something that is just a baseline. It’s a minimum. You’re never going to get excellence, and excellence does break rules. So I’m not for a rules-based order, which is planning speak, it is binary, it’s either yes or no.

I think we need to mature to a more ethically focussed, more morally focussed from the space around us: What’s good for us all? Not only the developer, not only the community, not only the government. Open book, everyone is honest about where they want to go. And everybody gets a slice of the pie, so nobody loses. And there’s less risk in that. That takes takes moral courage, it takes generational change. It takes a whole lot of things that are very difficult to achieve.

And unless we start talking in those terms, we’ll always be adversarial, we’ll always hide things from our subbies so we can go an extra(inaudible) we’ll always screw the screw the architect or reduce the quality of a material. That’s not what the industry should be known for. That’s what you guys do. You make the communities that either work or don’t, ultimately. And the rules don’t always help you.

So again, I was going to say innovative architects but but I’m going to say cunning – build a generation cunning architects who know how to operate in a system that’s very complex, sometimes very unfair, loaded in different ways. If they understand that, they’ve got a better chance of helping you, who actually spend the money, deliver a better product, a more sellable product and better communities.

Jim Taggart: Peter, I’ll leave it there. Thank you. Thank you for that. It’s an excellent summary. Two things I want to take out–I’m in clear in my mind – 1 is the invitation to a number of people that are here for your students to do work experience of some type. I’ll just put that on the table – and I see it gets a nodding. So, that’s a win. The second thing I would like to see the people here – many of them – go to your actual lecture at some time as a guest lecturer – I’m inviting them through you as a conduit – to speak to these future generations of people who are going to make a change. Would you accept that?

Peter Poulet: I would. I would relish that.

Jim Taggart: OK.

Peter Poulet: That’s why I’m pleased to be here in the room with you guys.

Jim Taggart: Well, thank you. Now, I’ll give you the close-out on just the architectural aspects. What’s going through your mind at the minute – and then I want to move on.

Neil Hill: Actually, when I think of the design competition process – and, you know, everything that’s been said I sort of agree with – and by the way, most of the big commercial practices are ready to spend three to four times the amount that they’re actually paid to do. And you’ve got a one in six chance you’ll be successful. It doesn’t make business sense. That big conversation was around that and other practices as well. But what I’d like to say is that I like the term “cunning” – I seem to have got into a space in my career where I’m competing in an RFP process for things that are pretty complex. And one of my favourite complex RFPs was the Tempe Station Project. And it was Liand O’Rourke and we got to know each other. And the sort of vital question before take you guys on is “do you really get this? do you really know how we can win this?” from a design perspective. Well it’s price – yes. But isn’t it something else? It’s complexity in construction. And in that case, there’s a whole range of things that are done that help Liang O’Rourke win that project. And so, architects can be great agents in terms of your competitive process. One suggestion in terms of one competition is send your brief differently. The brief shouldn’t require massive amounts of documentation as though you’re almost about to lodge the DA, ‘cause that costs a lot of time. It’s actually the nugget, the idea, the big urban move – the idea that will set up a development up for commercial success and reduces complexity to improve its quality. And that’s another point. You get designs which are really complex, but to pay for the damned thing over time, you ultimately have to reduce the quality and materiality to get those fancy shapes to work. So, I would say that the purpose of a design competition is to choose the best idea because if you’re prequalified in the competition, you’re probably going to deliver a great design.

Joe Abboud: I think there’s another layer here. And I think that’s biggest killer that’s affecting all of us at the moment on a daily basis. The latest flavour in the market is build to rent, right? And noone can make it work in Sydney. Why? Because, you know, we’ve got too many layers of costs and taxes and processes – and all stuff is starting to add up so much, Peter, that you can’t even deliver a build-to-rent project in Sydney, it only works in Melbourne, right? We’ve got a problem here. There’s so many issues that, before you even get to delivering this ideal scenario – build to rent – which is supposedly the knight in shining armour of delivering cheap housing or affordable housing here, and you’ve got to spend millions of dollars and years of time trying to get to an outcome.

Leanne Pilkington: So, what’s the difference between Melbourne and Sydney from your perspective?

Joe Abboud: Less red tape, a lot more efficient and the property prices are cheaper.

Peter Poulet: One thing is, a design competition shouldn’t be there to choose the right design. It should be there to choose the right architect for the project to work with the developer. And so, if that’s the parameters that are set, the design is only part of the decision-making process. You’re choosing somebody who’s going to fit the bill, who’s going to understand the complexity or difficulty of the project and deliver to you what you want at the right price.

Design is also about innovation in a way, because you can actually reduce costs by building differently. And this calls into question the whole reform of the industry and how we make buildings. And that’s another thing for research and the university sector to get right. We’re not expecting you to do that. But you are hamstrung with some very old, traditional processes that are time consuming and costly.

Jim Taggart: I agree. And we need to tease that out in relation to the context – contextual basis of what we’re talking about. And it might lead to another question – and it really comes at the back of that – to all of you.

Pierre Wakim: I just want to add something on Western Sydney frustrations that I hear from my clients who are developers and builders. It’s normally around planning – not necessarily around the architects that you hear the frustrations being voiced and the concerns that you normally understand that are particularly in Western Sydney. And I was talking to someone who had a lot to do with Liverpool Council, which is part of Western Sydney. There are some major projects that are planned for Liverpool Council. But the planners in the Council are not capable of assessing them. If you have a look at what the equity ambitions are of Western Sydney precincts and what the planning teams look like in those precincts....

Jim Taggart: I’m seeing a lot of heads acknowledging that.

Pierre: Wakim: You’ve got someone in Liverpool Council who’s looking at, you know, Moore Point as a potential project. And you look at the size of that team in Liverpool Council and you look at the people who are assessing there. So, where do these projects go, when they go into these planning teams and how do they actually get executed is a real question for me. I mean if I’m an accountant, if I don’t have the team being able to do the work for the client, then it’s not going to get done timely and it’s not going to get done properly.

Ross Grove: At Holroyd Council. We merged into Cumberland Council. I was a previous employee of the City of Parramatt a. And I think what you’ve identifi ed is something I certainly felt in Holroyd Council. We did a comprehensive LEP Review. We took Merrylands Town Centre from what was 8 storeys to 20 storeys to, later on, 26 storeys. And it was

Continued from page 22 around 2014 or 2015, I sat down with the Director of Planning of the day and said: What’s your plans for the next 5 years. You’ve done – your previous 5 years have been great. You’ve taken us from being the second slowest Council to process DAs to being, one of the bett er Councils to process DAs.

And he said: Look, good customer service – all that sort of stuff .

And I said: Well, you know, we’re building bigger cities now. We need a bigger city team. We need to look at how design interfaces with something. We’re not approving duplexes and granny fl ats. We do that very well. But when we go to 6 storeys, to 8 storeys, we’re starting to feel some stress. And we’ve just rezoned for 20 storeys. And that’s going to be a whole bunch of diff erent engineering, fl ood and all that sort of stuff – huge challenges. And yes, the calibre of planner was fi t for purpose at a particular point in time.

Western Sydney’s ambitions have raised and Councils are struggling to catch up with the task of administering that future ambition.

Mario Khaicy: Dealing with Councils sometimes it feels a lot like they’re trying to say no, trying to refuse it, other than try work with you. So, it’s not about how to change or what to do, it’s more a case of pause for two weeks and then it comes back, and: Oh, change this and change that. So, a lot of this is speed as well.

Pierre Wakim: But possibly that’s fear of the unknown. Some say “no” because you don’t know gett ing out of your depth, you normally say no because you don’t know whether lett ing it through is, you don’t know, you don’t have the skills to assess.

Jim Taggart: I agree with you. Sorry Joe. Th ank you.

Joe Abboud: Th ere needs to be a change in culture. We need to go to a cando att itude with these planners. Th ey need to be OK to talk to us and work with us. I’ve used this example in the past. When I fi rst started in this industry, there was a planner at Parramatt a Council. I used to go into the Council as a young guy. And we’d sit down down on at a round table, discuss issues with the plan. He used to pull out the red pen, mark out the issues - you know - make an amendment on the plan with the red pen. And I’d walk out with the approval in my hand.

Peter Poulet: I wouldn’t use a red pen on you.

Joe Abboud: I’m happy with a red pen. If it’s constructive criticism – I’ll take it.

Jim Taggart: I appreciate that. Th at’s really good. Denis, your thoughts as to just what’s going on at the moment, you know, in the sense of the conversation.

Neil Hill: We do a lot of planning law. We go to the Land and Environment quite often. That’s another frustration – process. So the frustration doesn’t end when you’re dealinmg with the councils. So when the discussion ends as a negative one you’ve got another battle on your hands, you talk to us and and you get the process started with a little more time and money or do you bite the bullet and just go with the flow or do you actually empty your pockets with more time and money down the track. The thought is a bit tangential, and I guess this is a conversation we’re going to come to, but who are we building for in the western suburbs and why are we building it? What do we want for the western suburbs and the people who live in the western sybyrbs?

Leanne Pilkington: Well, we certainly hear the issues with Council time and time again. So, I think a lot of what Joe said is valuable – being able to actually sit down and have a conversation about: OK, don’t tell me not how to. Tell me how we can actually make this work. Th at makes perfect sense.

Jim Taggart: Can you believe one hour’s nearly gone. Th e conversation’s been very robust. And I hope it’s getting you to think about things, even if it’s confusing, you know, in the sense of dialogue. I think it’s the greatest skill we have, to be able to think about conversation

Ross Grove: I think, it’s really interesting to see common themes, that government has potentially been hearing for years upon years, when it comes to time taken to process DAs, frustrations with Planners. I look aft er our industrial asset class for the Property Council and they tend to have frustration with either State Government, if it’s State Signifi cant Development, or with Council, if they go through that path.

And there’s almost a culture of: if the State’s processing the application then, when it gets referred to Council, the Council feels they don’t have resource to respond to it. And so, they basically throw a kitchen sink of objections at it. And then the State Government looks at it and goes: Oh well, not really sure what we should do here. And, you know, there’s – I think there’s an element of buck passing there. I think the State Government is making a huge eff ort to address the challenge of agency referrals. Th e Planning Delivery Unit to has been set up to coordinate some of that stuff . And, Kiersten Fishburn is a has a fair bit of cut-through in that space.

You know, Murray, I think Jim was asking me to wrap up before we go to morning tea. I thought we’d just grab the perspective of a planner in this space as well, just before we do. And aft er that, Jim, I think we might recharge with some coff ee.

Murray Donaldson: Just a couple of thoughts that I had during those sorts of comments about the planning system and the challenges people are having with Councils. I think we’re oft en asked to, by our clients, to get involved with projects that are complex and diffi cult and want to do something diff erent. And we have challenges in presenting evidence based robust sort of arguments about doing something a bit diff erent, looking to the merits of what’s proposed – ‘cause essentially that’s what the conversations need to move towards – more a merit-based discussion about whether something we think is bett er than what, you know, you’re seeing out there in the planning system. So, I think it’s going to be a massive cultural shift that’s needed within the planning fraternity about thinking not in a rule based sense, but much more about: Well, maybe this alternative is a bit bett er than what we set out in our rules – because we were only at that point in time thinking about a very broad-brush issue. Here’s a real live project we want to support and proceed with.

So, I hear those challenges all the time. And it’s really about that education piece.

Not only the architectural profession, but design infl uencing planning and creating a planning based – a design based planning system.

Neil Hill: And the other thing I wanted to mention in passing was: you’re all doing fantastic work and you’re all doing great projects – and there’s a lot of positivity that could be brought out by accelerating the successes of the projects that you have. And I think if you all bring forward your projects and presenting those to the industry as exemplars of what we’re trying to achieve in Western Sydney, I think that will only lift the conversation up to another more positive level. Just a quick observation: I’ve seen projects which have batt led their way

Dr Peter Poulet via Zoom.

Continued on page 25

Continued from page 24 through Council – a lot of opposition and hurdles. Th ey get built. And then, they’re seen as exemplars by Council. I mean you see it time and time again. So, what I would suggest is that there’s a communication piece about, you know, celebrating completed work and presenting back to the Council itself and members of the Department of Planning.

Ross Grove: Th at is gold right there.

Pierre Wakim: What you’ve just touched on is there’s an element that’s overlooked in industry and in life generally – and that’s culture. And culture is everything. So, you’ve got this adversarial culture like Joe was talking about. You’ve gott en all these siloed competing interests and it comes back to how people – people’s posturing. Th ey sit across the table and they don’t want to make commitments or don’t want to be roadblocks and it becomes – it’s basically culture. And you’ve got plans and you’ve got strategies and to best implement them, there’s the General, and as a General you want your armies marching all in unison. So, the investment in changing and turning around the adversarial way – and you touched on one example like the Council has ownership of the success is crucial.

Jim Taggart: Th anks Pierre, now I think it’s time for a break so we’ll see everyone back here in 15 minutes. Feel free to bring your coff ee back with you.

The Round Table in action.

Morning Tea Break (litt le lunch)

Jim Taggart: Welcome back. I’m trying to make sure that one of the important things to come out of here is the ability to be able to communicate and connect. Ross, through you to everyone, could we send the emails of everyone to each other?

Ross Grove: That’s fine. Just so that we make sure that we grab everyone’s, thoughts and everyone gets a share of the article, I wanted to – and we might flag it toward the end of the discussion – if we think about this in advance – I want to get one project in Western Sydney that you’re passionate about and why. Now, it can be a private sector project, it can be an infrastructure project – but why, what it means for Western Sydney, just to make sure that we get that grab. And that could be a discussion point from that point forward.

Some people may have their own buildings, their own towers, that they may wish to give a plug. Some of them are incredibly of a standard that you could do that with. So, I just wanted to seed that thought with you now before we kick off the discussion. Jim?

Jim Taggart: Well, I mean in fact we might even start with that, if you like.

Pierre Wakim: We can call out our Museum Project as the standout for what Western Sydney’s about to do with Parramatta, for instance. So, that will detail where that project’s at. It’s only been recently given the blessing through State Government to go ahead, with intentions that they’ll start in this year – and that will go four years. And it’s going to cost about 850 million. And it’s going to be intending on bringing about two million new visitors to Parramatta annually, once open. And then, it’s going to anchor Parramatta as a location for people to visit when visiting Sydney. That’s only going to benefit everyone in Parramatta.

Jim Taggart: And if I can put that into a context, sorry, just for a moment. I’m Deputy Chairman of Riverside Theatre. So I’m fairly au fait with what’s happening there. It’s interesting, because that fits right into what’s called The 24 Hour Economy – the Night Economy. So, it’s very interesting this growth that’s happening.

Pierre Wakim: My wish for Parramatta is that there’s going to be buildings – both residential, commercial – that would sit alongside this building and aren’t going to look out of place. But there’s going to be the standard that lifts generally across the area to imagine what’s going to be there. We would have failed if that standard isn’t brought up in line with that project.

Neil Hill: I mean the whole exercise around the Powerhouse to me exemplifi es the problem we’ve had for generations. I mean it’s about moving culturally signifi cant events and projects to Parramatt a. You have some people say, you know: You don’t want to go to Parramatt a. It’s a signifi cant city, isn’t it? Isn’t that a problem we’ve had over and over again?

I’m also passionate about the Parramatt a Justice Precinct. It was decided we were going to have Births Deaths and Marriages, and the Children’s Court there was a lot of controversy about that because the it was spread over 3 diff erent locations in Sydney and it wasn’t working very well. So, they decided to build fi ve Childrens Courts in Parramatt a. Th ere was a lot of resistance from the legal fraternity at the time but it was for the bett erment of Parramatt a.

My father used to have a saying: It’s further to get from the City to Parramatt a than it is to get from Parramatt a to the City. But I think these are issues at the front. I think it’s central to what we’re do-

Continued on page 27

The Round Table in action.

Joe Abboud: I’ve been a big supporter of the Hills and I think it’s an extension of Parramatt a. And I think why I’ve been a supporter of Th e Hills a litt le bit more is because it’s been very progressive for me. You know, Parramatt a unfortunately, you know, 160-170 iterations of an LEP and nine years in the making, and the Councillors are still saying: Oh, we can’t do this. We need to get it right.

I remember fi ve, six years ago Liverpool wasn’t even on the map. As a council they were asking at one stage how to make Liverpool safe. And one of the things they at Liverpool was we came up with the Put a Camera in the Streets Project. And the Mayor at the time got a State Government grant for that and put cameras in the streets. And then, all of a sudden, the streets are safe. Th ese are the sort of changes I think we need to make, we need to progress. And guess what? Parramatt a hasn’t got a new LEP for the CBD yet. I think Liverpool did a fairly good job in the last 10 years. I think Parramatt a’s failed in a lot of its progress. Th e Hills takes the cake for me.

Jim Taggart: Interestingly, 33,000 people go in and out of Th e Hills on a daily basis out of Norwest. Just out of there.

Murray Donaldon: I guess, projects – not so much a project, but more of a program – and it’s the transformation of a project for Western Sydney. And that’s key to where Peter comes from with Western Sydney Uni. Western Sydney Uni we’ve been doing a lot of work with on what they call the Western Growth Strategy, which is to transform their suburban car-oriented campuses across Western Sydney into City Centre oriented campuses – vertical campuses – in the heart of really where people want to go to University. And those projects have massive transformational opportunities for the places that they go to. And the project that I guess I’ve been most closely aligned with is the Bankstown City Campus project which is a $300M, 10,000 student campus in the heart of Bankstown.

And on the back of that, projects will fl ow. So, we’re working with the vicinity on the redevelopment of their Shopping Centre. We’re working a range of diff erent residential wners in Bankstown off

Continued from page 25 ing today, to work out how we get around those bott lenecks. To make Western Sydney relevant. Th e University has gone a hell of a long way to do that Th ere’s no question about that. Th e number of universities. I used to spend Unless we spend 2 hours to these universities, and two hours back. What a waste of time. So now a lot of people have got to access to education, not just at Parramatt a, it’s at Campbelltown, Blacktown and Penrith.

Jim Taggart And Denis, just to give you one litt le jewel. Catholic University in Blacktown – 18,000 students leave there daily to go to other Universities. Th ink about that. Angela?

Angela Haynes: So I guess what I’m passionate about is transport in Western Sydney. My main clients over the last 12 months have been the Sydney Metro and Transport for NSW. And when we’re talking about their projects, there’s obviously a lot of tangential discussion around them. I obviously focus on the fi nancial capacity of the contractors delivering them.

But what we forget sometimes is that signifi cant amount of jobs that the projects themselves generate and will continue to generate for the next 5 to 10 years. Th ey’re amazing in that there’s the job generation through the construction. But ultimately, that ability for people to get into Western Sydney and get out of Western Sydney is just changing the playing fi eld for businesses – not just in Parramatt a, as a central city, but more the other key sectors and key sites around Western Sydney.

Jim Taggart: Are you seeing things that other people aren’t? I’m saying are you seeing things as a result of that vein or artery that was used as analogy before.

Angela Haynes: What I’m seeing is an increased focus. We’ve got such a large amount of infrastructure projects coming online in Western Sydney, questioning around the capacity of the industry to deliver on those projects at the speed that they’re coming to market. So, what I am seeing is an increased focus on fi nancial viability and the fi nancial capacity of the contractors. And where I think that’s going to go is to confi rm that the fi nancial capacity and viability downstream into the next tiers. And that’s going to become more important because nobody wants to be seeing these projects not being completed, cost overruns are absolutely critical to be managed. So, that focus on business resilience and business’ sustainability, I mean, is coming along together with all the areas that are also looking around and planning design.

Jim Taggart: Th at’s fantastic. Chris?

Chris Abouhamad: So, about six years ago, our family invested in Middleton Grange Town Centre And it’s – and I say six years because it’s just around the corner from state planning taking it into its own hands– it’s not about Council bashing. But it’s just something that we’re passionate about in terms of the amenity that We’re putt ing there. You know. Th ere’s acres of parkland within that town centre. A very big focus on the community. It’s all low-rise community and to make sure that involvement is there.

If we want to kind of change the mindset just in terms of how you look at things. Th at’s a 6-year investment that we put in there. Just go another 20 minutes down south, to a project from Sekisui House. Th at is an absolute prime example of what place-making should be. I know the General Manager there. And I won’t go into too much detail but it’s worth the research if you’ve got time. Th ey don’t actually own any of the houses there. So, they’re a home and land builder. And they build their own homes.

And if you just drive through that precinct, they’ve actually put no burden on any of the landowners there to maintain their landscaping on their property, but you drive past every house that they build there and every single person is maintaining their property because they’re extremely proud of where they’re living. So, I think Sekisue has turned a big wheel there and put a lot of smarts in their designing and master planning and amenity and the mixed use there. And all of a sudden, the residents take an enormous amount of pride in their work .And I think that’s a very strong example of place-making and what I’d like to see in Greater Western Sydney too.

Continued on page 28

Continued from page 27 the back of this massive investment that Western Sydney University is making through partners with Walker Corporation and others in delivering this new campus.

So, that’s a model that the University is moving towards – other Universities are following that on the back of where people want to be.

So, I’m passionate about increasing tertiary education att ainment for people of Western Sydney, and through these projects, we’re seeing that opportunity happen. And that will fl ow to many more planning changes happening in those locations where the University is moving and changing to.

Jim Taggart: And I think technology is having an infl uence on that decision making as well – and I’d like to explore that later. Th ank you for that. Leanne?

Leanne Pilkington: As a resident of Th e Hills for the last 40 years, the Metro is absolutely a game changer, having reliable regular transport. I didn’t realise how much I’d actually use it. And yeah – so looking forward to not having to get on the train at Chatswood when the extension’s in.

Jim Taggart: Fantastic. And we’ll talk about that. Mario?

The Round Table in action.

Mario Khaicy: I come back to the Powerhouse Museum. But for a slightly diff erent reason. And it’s not just the convenience of the central location of the Powerhouse. It’s the statement that it makes to students and young people that Western Sydney is a place deserving of, you know, an iconic museum.

When you’re kids and you’re having to, you know, schlepp all the way to the City, that message is reinforced that that’s where value is and that’s where all the people are. But as children coming to a Western Sydney location to see an Iconic Powerhouse Museum, it’s a huge statement. And as I say, it’s not just the practicality. But I think it’s a great thing. And more of that type should be refl ected materially so that Broadway isn’t the, you know, the boundary – the borderline.

But I also like the Western Sydney Campus of UWS in Parramatt a.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you. Neil?

Neil Hill: It’s kind of a bit transporty. But tw projects that I’ve been mostly involved with that are most interesting in terms their overall departure and strategic shift in the perceptions of Sydney. Firstly, was the North West Metro. It was transformational in so many ways, and most interesting for me is the way government and others are making investment in community hubs, using high quality public placemaking associated with rail travel, that’s a really big thing for us because traditionally we see rail travel as second to the car. But this has shift ed the game. Th e second is Western Sydney Airport. It is important to shift ing the centre of Sydney, much like the harbour bridge once did, but pulling it west-globally.

Chris Abouhamad: I think they have to. I think there’s a shift in the prop tech space. Th e whole tech space is just, you know, moving forward in leaps and bounds. Connectivity is an issue. Th e rate of technology is – we were talking about it before. You know. Th e advancement in technology is doing that due to the need for data and storage of data and speed and connectivity and all that kind of stuff is just – I think it’s increased 40 to 50% in the last 12 months – right?

Remon Fayad: Yeah. Mine is a two piece. Th e Light Rail will connect to Northern Parramatt a – from Westmead to Carlingford which then one thing we will all be impacted at one stage of our life the Westmead Hospital. So that development there, the way that’s grown over the years. Transport’s one thing. But I think Health is just as important as Transport.

Jim Taggart: When you drill down, 2030, 16,000 people working there.

And not only that, the specialty of children and a whole range – so, what I’m saying is it’s gett ing known. It’s interesting as a concept.

Peter Poulet: I have had my thunder stolen a litt le. Basically Westmead is essential to the success of Sydney generally, it not Australia. It’s likely to become the south east Asian hub for health, health tourism.

Equally the Powerhouse relocation, just points to the need for a structural reform in our cultural off ering, to make it more equitably spread across Sydney.

I’ll give you three temporal frames. One is: architecture from Western Sydney University is moving into Hassall Street, Parramatt a in July to a thing called Th e Engineering and Innovation Hub.

So, it’s not only about architecture. It’s about that cross-disciplinary practice I talked about.

And, it also includes the University of NSW. Th e Central City Parramatt a, It’s called up as the River City. So, let us look at our river health, and our environment generally and make sure it’s the best it can be – because it could be a lot bett er. So, that’s one I’m looking at probably middle-term. And ultimately, let’s improve the linkages. Th e Metro’s a great start. Let’s build more of them.

Let’s link Miranda to Kogarah and Bankstown to Parramatt a to Liverpool to the Airport – and on to Th e Hills–happening. Let’s get that North/South connection equally strong as it is East/West. I think they’re three projects that start from something that’s happening, it starts and then goes to something that’s in the planning and it’s on everybody’s mind.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you for those comments. It’s a bit aft er 10 past. I can’t believe we’ve only got 20 minutes or that to get through. And I’ve got about six or seven questions. Th e conversation has been really good. And I hope as I said, our goal is that you take away something that gnaws at you. I think that’s important when you get in the car and make those phone calls and get on with your normal life. Th ere’s something there that’s being inquisitive and you’ve made contacts.

I want to just ask two other quick questions if I might. We know that interest rates are extremely low – relatively speaking. So, the cost of borrowing, in a sense. How is that infl uencing your decisions and gett ing capital from overseas or foreign investment and so on? We talked before about collaboration. Is that important in this whole mix of what Western Sydney looks like, in terms of being able to have access to funds – not you personally – just as a comment?

Remon Fayad: Th ere’s plenty of funds out there, people are wanting to get into Sydney, Western Sydney, particularly

Continued on page 29

Pierre Wakim: Th at’s right.

Mario Khaicy: And the mindset of Australia or the system in Australia is that the landlord – yeah there’s a lot of rights for the tenants. But you’ve always got this – the longest rental period we’ve got is 12 months.

Pierre Wakim: Th at’s right.

Mario Khaicy: And you’ve always got this hanging over your head. And if you’ve got a couple of kids, and then you’ve got to give them notice and get evicted and fi nd a new place.

The Round Table in action.

Continued from page 28 with COVID now.And there you go. Australia’s now known as a safe place to do business and keep growing. So from our end there’s a lot more funding coming to the country.

Jim Taggart: Yeah. Sorry, Chris.

Chris Abouhamad: It’s a question of aff ordability. You can make money cheap but people cant aff ord to buy assets because they’re still struggling.

Jim Taggart: Well, one of the things I want to ask of this is: what type of people are coming to Western Sydney? Because that’s your motive. Wherever it is, whatever this this picture you paint...

Chris Abouhamad: I think people are staying in Western Sydney

Jim Taggart: Th at’s a great observation. Tell me about that.

Chris Abouhamad: I was second generation – sorry – I’m a fi rst generation Australian and I don’t have any foreseeable plans to leave Western Sydney. And a lot of people I grew up with are the demographic that I deal with is may move down the road or another suburb. But we’ve been gett ing a few that moved to the beaches, some moved to the north. And that’s all well and good. But I just think families are being out at Middleton Grange and the greater west, where a lot of our work is, it’s families downsizing, it’s elders coming to apartments. So I think they stay within the city.

Joe Abboud: Th e money is very sophisticated in where it wants to go. For example, I had a conversation recently with somebody around Build to Rent and whether some of our projects in the western suburbs would be a good place for their money. And one particular group’s opinion was that Build-to-Rent wouldn’t work in the western suburbs. His view was that people wouldn’t want to live in apartments long enough in the western suburbs. He asked me ‘How do I go and build, you know, a $100 million project, expect 200-300 apartments in there, or a couple hundred apartments, and then expect 200 families to live in them for 5 or 10 years. He said: Th at doesn’t seem like a likely patt ern for our money. So, that’s one sector. My response to him is: Well show me where it doesn’t work and why it doesn’t work. And maybe we’ll sit down in a workshop and try and make it work.

Leanne Pilkington: Is there any evidence to say that people don’t want to live in the western suburbs long term?

Joe Abboud: I have been in touch with some economic advisers and researchers to see if there is information on that. I’d love to understand the demographic studies and the analysis around that, and has anyone actually done it.

Leanne Pilkington: What we’re seeing in the market right now is a huge number of landlords actually selling them and gett ing out of owning investment properties. I’m trying to research the data on the numbers in NSW right now. But in the ACT they’ve lost 8% of their rental stock. In the Northern Territory, they had 18,000 at the beginning of last year. Th ey’ve now got 13 and a half thousand properties in the rental stock…it’s a combination of things. Th e tenancy laws have changed so dramatically that tenants are favoured over landlords. Landlords, particularly in NSW, were given absolutely no assistance during COVID. And people are coming out of COVID and going: My house isn’t fi t for purpose: So, I’m going to sell my investment, I’m going to sell my place of residence, and I’m going to buy something that suits the family bett er.

Joe Abboud: Look, and that’s supposed to be the knight in shining armour. Build to Rent is supposed to be new. It’s been happening. But there’s another layer of that, which is that there’s not enough subsidies–becasuse in America, if you understand Build to Rent, it’s heavily subsidised from a number of subsidised schemes.

Pierre Wakim: just around some of the Australian trends particularly around this is where, you know, we import our population through migration predominantly. Th at migration comes into Western Sydney when it normally comes into Sydney. And that migration normally rents fi rst and then transitions to the Australian dream of owning their own home. So, why doesn’t it stay in rent is probably because there is this culture of Australian Dream – and the aff ordability in Western Sydney historically has been that you could reach that Australian Dream of ownership. And property prices have continued to grow, so they see that as a positive to why would they aspire to the Australian Dream, ‘cause it helps to build their wealth as well.

Mario Khaicy: Pierre, why would you rent?Th e reason why people want to own is for their peace of mind – so they’re not pushed around by their landlord.

Pierre Wakim: Th at’s right. Th e UK is based on 5 x 5 year leases.

Mario Khaicy: So, the solution to Build to Rent, Joe, you said subsidies on many levels. Th at’s crucial. And it could be a case of the longer a tenant lives in your apartment, the bigger the subsidy from government – tax breaks. So, it’s the Land Tax, it’s what you do with GST on the upfront – you know – development of the Build to Rent. And it’s also the longevity, the tenure, whatever you call it, the landlord, the average that people – if people – if we set up legislation where if people are paying their rent on time and they’re good tenants, then you actually can’t kick them out.

Joe Abboud: Th e Build to Rent reform kinds of deals with that and it allows for longer tenure and things like that.

Mario Khaicy: Th at’s the idea. I hear it. So, you hear of people living in apartments for generations, and the kids grow up and it’s normal. So, the culture maybe because of the stress around having to need to move.

Continued on page 30

The Round Table in action.

Continued from page 29

Pierre Wakim: You have to pull your kids out of school, childcare and all those.

Mario Khaicy: And then, also planning concessions in allowing more liveable space, leg room in an apartment – like, it’s a home rather than it’s just a pigeon-hole temporary to being able to own your own property.

Neil Hill: Typically we associate rent with: not actually investing with the quality of their living, the landscape. You’re not really there, as a sort of a tenant. And the mindset of a tenancy is that you’re not really part of the permanent community.

But if you built to rent can send a diff erent signal which is: this is your place – you can basically customise things – you know like the Papermill that give people what they really want houses to apartments – and there are selective items that do things that everybody want. Th ey want to be able to go to the walk-up, the experience of the place, the amenity of the place. Downsizers go to apartments for diff erent reasons. So, I think it’s about the perception of rent – renting – and the Australian perception of renting is a bit like the Australian perception of cars versus trains –that’s shift ing, because of the quality of product that’s Metro. Why can’t build-to-rent do the same?

Pierre Wakim: Th ere’ll be a litt le bit of change to the helm, encourage Build to Rent I think. But that doesn’t encourage Build to Rent.

Joe Abboud: Yeah. It’s really geared towards the corporate part of the industry that’s gett ing into Build to Rent, And they’re saying: Well, we’d love to be a part of it. And the only way you can make it work is with reform. And they’ve given them some relief, but it’s a long way away. So I think now is the time to get it right because once the borders open again, people are going to need places to live.

Pierre Wakim: Th ere is this daunting issue that’s in real estate where people are buying property right now at a percentage of their wage that’s never – like ridiculous – because of where interest rates are and because there’s not enough stock, that Joe mentioned earlier – that there’s just not enough stock in the market.

If we take an average interest rate over the life of, you know, Australian interest rate history, they’re going to borrow at 2% and they’ll pay it back at 6 and a half, 7%.

Leanne Pilkington: which they just can’t aff ord to do

Pierre Wakim: And that’s the issue. And how that’s going in government, has government completely considered that? Now, they’ve thrown a big part of it on the banks around responsible lending. But the bigger issue is that we do have a country where there’s an enormous amount of land and it’s not gett ing released. People aren’t being able to develop on it quickly enough. Th at issue around speed is – and the problem with speed is that trends change very quickly in this connected world we’re in.

And Mario and I know that, when you look at – oh, we’ve spoken about assets in the past, that you’re looking at right now. And you go: Th at’s a great asset for a Build to Rent. By the time you execute on that asset, the trend has changed and it’s bett er off as a commercial development.

Mario said before – and then you talked about Europe rental – how do you compare us in, you know, Sydney? We haven’t even realised a quarter of our land holding and we’re already talking about rent. When you look at Barcelona and Spain, you can’t build anything any more. Th at’s why they’re renting. Why are we such a young country with a, you know, under-supply of land even talking about rental.

Jim Taggart: It’s around 26 past. Again, sorry, I’ve got to be true to what I want. Peter, I’m going to give you the last word, just as a comment, of what I asked Ross to say a few words – but your thoughts on the conversation today? Two hours has gone past and it’s been robust, and lots of ideas that I think are really relevant today. Your thoughts in your role, and as also an academic and a futurist and so on.

Peter Poulett : Th is has been very useful for me and I’d like to think, as I said earlier, it’s not the last of these conversations we have. It’s essential that we change the culture, and that includes how we regard our housing – that recent conversation. Yes, there’s a lot of land here. But I think some of the problems that arise and some of the costs that arise are artifi cially infl ated by political motives. So, we need to address those as much as we do other costs of building – I mean the real costs.

So, that goes to a change of culture. And an understanding that housing is a human right. You’re actually need key workers in key locations to make sure that the city works. So, you do need aff ordable housing somewhere, preferably near the jobs. So, it’s not just about housing anymore, it’s about job creation and encouraging investment in commercial, retail and industrial activities.

So, that’s the next conversation potential – how we manage to have people with their housing and jobs not too far away – and within neighbourhoods.

Jim Taggart: And I thank you for that summary. It’s certainly insightful for all of us to hear what you’re saying. Ross, can you just summarise your thoughts?

Ross Grove: Well, thank you everyone for coming. I think this is my second Round Table. And it always tends to discuss things that we didn’t automatically script in or plan in to the agenda. I think we’ve got 5, you know, key fi ndings which are known to some but not necessarily all.

And Michael, I think when it comes to how we sum up how this works in the pages of Western Sydney Business Access, I think No: 1, great buildings are obviously desired in Western Sydney. But in order for them to be economically viable, we need a practical approach to architecture, and there are opportunities for partnership with Western Sydney University to collaborate and build a practical approach to architecture in Western Sydney.

I think Western Sydney’s aspirations – this is the second fi nding – Western Sydney’s aspirations have risen over the last decade. And Councils need support in upskilling and expanding their own strategic capacity for their planning departments.

I think, as a third one, and this is just a generality – the most vexed projects in the region oft en turn out to be the most iconic and city-shaping projects.

No: 4, Build to Rent needs more work to be an att ractive and viable asset class. And this needs to occur before the next wave of migration.

No: 5, Stamp Duty is a bad tax. I think we all came in here with that knowledge. It reduces mobility between properties. But the reform discussion is more nuanced.

I think that’s, in a nutshell, a prett y good summary of the territory we’ve covered. And we should hopefully be able to digest that into the pages of Access. Th ank you, Jim.

Jim Taggart: Th ank you. Th ank you so much. I am enlightened by the comments, the maturity of the comments and thoughts and their openness. Enjoy the day. It’s half past 11. And thank you kindly. Th anks Peter.

Published in Western Sydney Business Access | Parramatta Times | Blacktown News | www.westernpropertyguide.com.au

Suburbs become millionaires

Market sizzles in Autumn cold

 DALLAS SHERRINGHAM

THE weather has turned cold as autumn bites Western Sydney, but the sizzling hot property market shows no sign of abating.

Cashed up buyers are fl ooding the market in the west according to leading property site realestate.com.au with families on the hunt for larger houses.

Th ey have led to an explosion in property prices across Sydney’s west and transformed once aff ordable suburbs into “millionaire’s row’s”.

Th e latest suburb to become a millionaire’s row is St Clair on the M4, just west of Blacktown. A property sold for $1.438m, which was $238,000 above the reserve price.

It was the third property to break the St Clair suburb record this year. Th e luxury fi ve bedroom home shatt ered the former record of $1.15M earlier this year.

And that property in Tweed Pl beat the previous record from February when a Belledale Cl home went under the hammer for $1.096M.

Belle Property Strathfi eld Principal Norman So said the latest record auction in Galway Pl att racted 11 registered bidders.

He said the vendors were thrilled with the result aft er wanting their home to get the suburb record.

“Th e vendors didn’t care what price it got as long as they got the suburb record title,” he said.

Th ere are now 53 suburbs in the Greater Western Sydney region with a median house price above $1 million.

And another 11 suburbs are on track to hit the milestone by the end of the year if prices rise by the up to 15% margin forecast by some banks.

CoreLogic date shows suburbs that recently became millionaire’s rows included Rydalmere and Northmead near Parramatt a and Blacktown suburbs Stanhope Gardens and Th e Ponds.

It means prices in many of the new $1M suburbs were once accessible for critical service workers on lower incomes, such as nurses and teachers, but have since pulled well out of their reach.

Gett ing a mortgage for a house priced near $1m would require a household income of at least $140,000 a year at current loan rates.

Houses with backyards are now in danger of becoming aff ordable only for “elites”.

It means parts of the west are now moving in the direction the inner west was 20-30 years ago, according to one expert on realestate.com.

Affordable by comparison

Leading auctioneer Michael Garofolo said part of the reason prices had been ballooning out west was because it was more aff ordable relative to the rest of Sydney.

Th is made it an att ractive market for families in other parts of the city who, aft er enduring lockdowns, wanted larger houses but had budgets in line with more expensive areas, he said.

“Where you’re coming from can skewer your perspective,” Mr Garofolo said.

“If you’re used to the inner west or the east, you see the houses as cheap and don’t care if you pay well over the listed price to beat other buyers.”

Mr Garofolo said it was a similar patt ern to how inner west suburbs like Concord evolved 30 years ago.

“Concord was once a blue-collar area considered a bit out of the way but it was a cheaper suburb a lot of people could aff ord,” he told the property site.

“Now it’s one of the most expensive suburbs, it’s a white-collar area. Th e same thing is now happening in places like Merrylands.”

Th e record St Clair sale means the team at Belle Property Strathfi eld has sold 278 properties in the last 12 months, with an average sale price of $1.6m and total sales valued at $405.7m.

Th e team sold 143 houses, 134 apartments and 1 block of land or rural property with 151 sales by private treaty and 127 by auction–and these properties were on the market for an average of 50 days.

Th e highest recorded sale price was $6M for 16 Torrington Rd, Strathfi eld NSW, a 5-bedroom house which sold by auction and was on the market for just 35 days.

WESTERN SUBURBS ON VERGE OF $1M HOUSE PRICES

Wentworthville $993,000

Carnes Hill $988,000 Kings Langley $977,000

Constitution Hill $957,550

Chipping Norton $940,000

Moorebank $935,000

Parklea $930,000

Auburn $920,000

Wilberforce $920,000

Canley Vale $900,000

Bossley Park $895,000

THE NEWEST $1M SUBURBS INCLUDE:

Mulgoa $1.12m

Winston Hills $1.1m

Lidcombe $1.1m

Glenwood $1.0m

Kellyville Ridge $1.08m

Northmead $1,08m

Th e Ponds $1.06m

Harrington Park $1.05m

Berala $1.02m

Camden Park $1.02m

Stanhope Gardens $1,02m

Macquarie Links $1.01m

Glenbrook $1m

The St Clair property.

Sources: Belle Property Strathfield, realestate.com.au, CoreLogic

Stockland unveils upgraded Willows

STOCKLAND has unveiled its $1M newly upgraded Community Centre at The Willows Retirement Village in Winston Hills.

Situated at the heart of the community, the 860sqm centre serves over 270 residents and has undergone numerous upgrades and improvements including new fl ooring, light fi tt ings and fi xtures, furnishings and the construction of a new café, ‘Th e Coff ee Pot’.

Other facilities include a swimming pool, billiards room, hairdresser, amphitheatre, dining room and gym.

To mark the occasion, Member for Seven Hills, Mr Mark Taylor LLM MP, joined Stockland representatives and residents at an offi cial ribbon cutt ing ceremony on June 7.

Kirrily Lord, General Manager of Retirement Living, Stockland, said the new centre will provide a renewed sense of belonging and comfort to residents.

“Th e Community Centre at Th e Willows Retirement Village has been

The newly upgraded Willows.

its lifeblood since 1992, and so we’re delighted to be able to upgrade the space, which includes new classic and contemporary fi xtures and furnishings that are warm, comforting and inspire a sense of belonging.

“Th e new Community Centre will off er residents a fresh and modern environment in which they can relax, socialise or grab a hot coff ee and snack with family and friends in the brand new, fully equipped café.”

Th e Willows Retirement Village in Winston Hills is home to 272 residents and is a friendly community with a wide range of modern homes. Th e homes are set within fi ve acres of award-winning landscaped grounds which provides a range of colourful blooms throughout the year.