This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
STOCKLAND has splashed out $415 million for the undeveloped portion of $4 billion master planned community The Gables in north western Sydney.
Sprawling across 293 hectares, the master plan for The Gables includes 75 hectares of green space and local parks, a four hectare lake, a K-12 Catholic school, and a variety of land parcels including townhouses to lots ranging from 240 sqm to 2,000 sqm.
The Gables was launched by the Baiada family’s Celestino Developments in 2015, from which Stockland bought the parcel.
Stockland plans to deliver about 1,900 dwellings over the life of the project, adding to the 994 delivered by Celestino Developments. It will pay an initial upfront payment of $40.2 million and annual progress payments over a six year period.
Managing director and chief executive offer of Stockland, Mark Steinert said the acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to restock its residential development pipeline with a well located, market-ready project that increases its exposure to the strong Sydney residential land market.
Stockland Group executive and chief executive communities Andrew Whitson said, “This is a rare opportunity to purchase a large parcel of residential zoned land in Sydney, and allows us to extend our strong brand presence in the north west alongside our existing community at Elara in Marsden Park”.
“The north west growth corridor is under supplied and we expect new supply will continue to lag demand over the next couple of years.”
“We continue to experience high demand and strong sales across our Sydney communities. We will start selling land at The Gables immediately after settling on the project in April, and expect to realise operating profit from FY21 with forecast returns above our hurdle rates.”
Stockland posted softer first half earnings but was anticipating a profit skew to the second half that would support its FY20 full year guidance. Strong sales results and a normalised default rate were expected to drive settlements to the top end of its cycle range, with previous expectations of around 5,800 lots in FY21.
Located in Sydney’s Hills district, The Gables benefits from access to significant existing infrastructure including the Rouse Hill Town Centre and the Rouse Hill and Tallawong Road metro stations, which are both eight kilometres away from the community.
“We are committed to delivering new homes in desirable, well connected locations close to transport, jobs and schools as Sydney continues to grow, providing more opportunities for first home buyers and families to enter the property market,” Whitson said.
The transaction remains subject to satisfaction of conditions precedent relating to novation of relevant agreements.
Celestino Developments chief executive officer, John Vassallo said the group was approached by Stockland to consider the sale of The Gables.
Meanwhile almost nine years after abandoning the apartments sector, Stockland has just returned to the market, splashing out $15 million for a Brunswick development site.
