EcoWorld International acquires Macquarie Park site for A$139m project

PETALING JAYA (Nov 24): Eco World International Bhd (EcoWorld International) has secured access to a prime development land 12km northwest of Sydney’s central business district for a new A$139 million (RM436.51 million) project there, it said in a press release today.

The project will consist of 125 units of residential apartments with a small retail component and is expected to be launched in 1H19 with a development timeline of three to four years from the date of launch.

EcoWorld International said the site at 1-3 Lachlan Avenue, Macquarie Park, Sydney is currently occupied by an apartment building with 30 enbloc units, and under the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (Australia), 75% of unit owners in a strata scheme can agree to end their strata scheme, so the site can be redeveloped or sold.

“EcoWorld International has 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.

“This represents approximately 84.2% of the strata scheme, which enables EcoWorld International to proceed with the acquisition of all the apartment units through a strata renewal process under the Act,” it said.

The proposed acquisition, estimated at A$40 million, is expected to be completed by November 2018.

“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,” said EcoWorld International president and CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng.

“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. This was followed by our recent entry into the Heads of Agreement 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,” he added.

The project site is adjacent to Macquarie University in the Macquarie University Precinct, which is home to one of the nation’s top 10 universities as well as some of the world’s top 2% universities that draw thousands of international students annually.

The site is also near Macquarie University Train Station, Macquarie Shopping Centre and the Macquarie Innovation Park District, Sydney’s second largest business district and one of the southern hemisphere’s largest business and technology precincts.