This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
WHILE the federal government’s infrastructure department continues to face scrutiny over the $30 million purchase of land next to the Western Sydney Airport, nearly four hectares close by has been sold to owner occupiers in the food industry for $14.5 million.
The new owners, the Barba and Putrino families have earmarked the 205 Lawson Rd poultry farm as a new home for their businesses and a future industrial development.
The block is set to be rezoned for flexible mixed use and employment purposes. It is the first property to have been sold since the NSW government gazetted the rezoning of five priority precincts to provide for employment, residential and environmental uses in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis region, as part of the state’s planning acceleration program.
Sydney’s second airport is expected to be completed in 2026. The state government expects the region to support more than 200,000 jobs over 20 years, with a focus high tech manufacturing and training, aerospace and defence industries, and a freight and logistics hub. The CSIRO has recently has committed to am 18,000 sqm state-of-the-art facility, while Boyuan Holdings’ Northern Gateway master planned project will cover 344 hectares next to the airport and include a new Westfield shopping centre, and health and logistics space.
CBRE’s Elijah Shakir, Andrew Sukkar and Fabio Screpis negotiated the sale of the Lawson Rd property.
Shakir said the campaign attracted significant interest due to the scale of the site and its proximity to the new airport.
“We have a number of mandates from buyers seeking similar sites to capitalise on opportunities associated with the development of the airport and surrounding government infrastructure totalling over $5.25 billion.”
The sale price represented a land rate of $366 per sqm, a 28% uplift on the previous Badgerys record set two years ago at 10 Martin Rd when the Aerotropolis precinct maps were first issued, the agents said.
Meanwhile, a Senate committee continued to hear evidence from Simon Atkinson, the secretary of the federal government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, over the decision by two department officials to spend nearly $29.8 million in 2018 acquiring 12.26 hectares of land at the end of the future Airport’s second runway.
Known as the Leppington Triangle, the property was valued a year later at just $3 million, and is not due to be developed for another 30 years.
It was bought from bought from the Leppington Pastoral Company. Multiple investigations have now been launched, and the Australian Federal Police are investigating potential criminal conduct.
One of the staff involved has been stood down and the other shifted to a different position.
Aitkinson took on his current role after the deal was made.
