Western Australia

Western Australia 

Luke Saraceni Seeks to Get Busselton Project Moving, WA

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PERTH-based property developer Luke Saracini is looking for new financial backer to help get a 900-unit mixed use redevelopment in the Busselton area moving.

The Vasse Newtown project (aerial, right) has been largely on hold, because Mr Saraceni told the AFR, he “couldn’t agree on a price” with another local investor the Perron Group.

Mr Saraceni owns 49 per cent of the project while a syndicate of largely wealthy West Australian families owns the balance.

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Western Australia 

Geraldton set for building boom

THE sleepy Western Australia coastal town of Geraldton is about to undergo a population explosion – and maybe an apartment development boom – on the back of major mining projects including the $5 billion Oakajee Port venture.

However it may face a housing shortage within three months because of a fear by developers to adopt a large-scale development in the area, 240 kilometres north of Perth. Earthwork restrictions limiting the clearing of blocks to within six months (March to September) is also turning prospective developers off.

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Western Australia 

WA Residential Building Boom Too Fast For Bureaucrats to Handle

WESTERN Australia’s residential building boom seeks to be choking on itself.

According to builder Alcock-Brown Neaves Group, the state is being plagued by rising staff and material costs, falling migration and tax uncertainty, as well as red tape burdens and delays.

He said the state’s housing market risks suffering “death by a thousand cuts” unless it becomes proactive, and acts.

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Western Australia 

Brookfield Proposing New Office Development Abutting its City Square Asset, Perth CBD

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THE Australian arm of the Canadian private equity company Brookfields plans to build an office building in Perth, abutting another development it already owns – in effect creating a twin-tower complex.

Upon completion, the twin-office development’s end value is forecast will be more than $1 billion.

Brookfield told The Australian it was also considering redeveloping other sites it owns – the Bishop See North asset, also in the Perth CBD, and another office tower proposal in Melbourne.

It paid West Australian property investor Ric Stowe $25.3 million for the site adjoining City Square, and is reportedly planning a 15-level, 30,000 square metre office, which will be integrated into the neighbouring complex.

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Western Australia 

Receivers to Sell Luke Saraceni Perth Site

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RECEIVERS are about to seize control of a sixth site controlled by embattled property developer Luke Saraceni (right).

The seizure, for a hotel site at 18 The Esplanade, in Perth, comes as Saraceni prepares to test in court whether his $500 million Raine Square office tower project can be completed.

Financiers have also seized control of an office tower at 251 St Georges Terrace, in Perth, owned by Saraceni’s business partner, developer Hossean Pourzand. The Bank of Scotland and Bankwest called in the receivers, according to reports.

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Western Australia 

Ric Stowe’s Bullsbrook Mansion to be Sold, Perth

THE palatial Perth mansion of businessman Ric Stowe is expected to be auctioned in May.

Bullsbrook (right), on Perth’s outskirts, is expected to sell for some $70 million.

The estate includes a frass field cut into a hillside, a polo clubhouse and two helipads. It has reportedly been host to royalty.

Bullsbrook was one of several assets recently seized by receivers.

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Western Australia 

Things Looking Rosier in Perth

THE value of apartments within inner-city Perth is set to surge this year, linked to stronger corporate profits.

Research group MacroPlan says slowing growth in corporate profits in 2008 and 2009 led to the cancellation or deferral of some mining construction work, and that as a consequence, commercial and residential development also slowed.

In its Outlook for Perth Housing Construction report, analyst Jason Anderson says this trend should be reversed as demand for construction contractors and professional services firms increases. Several major Western Australian mining projects are back on the cards, too.

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Western Australia 

Brookfield Multiplex Pays Aspen $25.3 Million for Perth Development Site

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WESTERN Australian based developer and fund manager Brookfield Multiplex has paid $25.3 million for a commercial development site in the City Square development site.

Brookfield is expected to build a 14-level office on the site, which was also reportedly competed for by the Charter Hall Group.

Aspen Group also reportedly conducted due diligence on the site.

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Western Australia 

Yanchep Site, Perth, Expected to Sell For Near $13 Million

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A MAJOR residential development site in Yanchep, a precinct of Perth once known as a weekend getaway destination, has hit the market for the second time in three years.

The 10,000 square metre block, divided into four titles, were purchased by boutique Perth developer Match for $13.2 million at the peak of Perth’s real estate market in 2007.

Colliers International’s head of department project residential, land marketing and tourism, Nick DiLello said the site may achieve that price again, now the market has recovered somewhat from the downturn.

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Western Australia 

Satterley Pays $94 Million for Heron Park Development Site, Perth

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DEVELOPER Satterley has paid $94 million for a 104 hectare residential development site in its home town of Perth.

The land is able to yield 1200 lots, and is located in the city’s south-east.

“At a time when a land shortage is looming, this is a very important big picture buy,” Satterley founder Nigel Satterley told the AFR.

The new estate abuts Satterley’s Heron Park estate.

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Western Australia 

John Fish to Sell Queensland Development Site

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GOLD Coast property developer John Fish can expect to make about $35 million from the sale of a 68,000 square metre development site at Hope Island.

The site includes the Marina Quays Tavern.

Paul Smerdon, a spokesman for developer the Fish Group, told the AFR the project would be better suited to someone with more experience at running mixed use sites.

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Perth
Western Australia 

Perth Office Rents Take a Battering

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PerthTHE see-saw property market that is Perth, may be set for another battering.

A week after a controversial super-tax threatens to end many West Australian mining projects, comes news office rents in the city have collapsed 27.4 per cent over the past year.

Average rents are now $696 per square metre, per annum, according to CB Richard Ellis, which issued the report on occupancy cost drops across 176 global markets.

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Sydney Opera House
Western Australia 

Sydney Nations Least Affordable City, Again

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New research by the HIA shows housing affordability hasn’t improved in Sydney.

Below is a statement released by the group this week:

Housing affordability nose-dived at the end of 2009 due to a combination of higher house prices, increased interest rates, and the winding-down of the first home buyers’ boost according to the latest HIA-CBA First Home Buyer Affordability Report.

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Western Australia 

Vanilla Property Investments Pays $27.5 Million for Perth Shopping Centre

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PERTH-based syndicate Vanilla Property Investments, an arm of the Vicus Group, has paid $27.5 million for Perth’s Lifestylezone Ocean Keys shopping centre.

The three-year old centre, in Clarkson, has 19 tenancies in two buildings measuring 14,004 square metres.

The Good Guys, Bedshed, SupaCheap Auto and Beacon Lighting are amongst the centre’s biggest tenants, the AFR reports.

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Western Australia 

WA Government Appoints Delfin Lend Lease Preferred Developer For Alkimos Community Development

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THE West Australian government has named Delfin Lend Lease as the preferred developer for the first stage of the 710 hectare Alkimos Community development, 40 kilometres north of Perth.

Alkimos will be Delfin Lend Lease’s first major project in WA, despite establishing in the state two years ago.

Perth based Satterley Property Group and Mirvac were also shortlisted to buy the site, the AFR reports.

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Northbridge Link
Western Australia 

Northbridge Link to Connect Perth and Northbridge For the First Time in 100 Years

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Northbridge LinkTHE final plan for Perth’s Northbridge Link has been announced for a 13.5 hectare site, around Horseshoe Bend.

The $500 million plan will see Perth’s central train and bus station sunk, and a new town square developed on land above. The development will include public gardens, retail, business and residential areas, and will connect Perth and Northbridge for the first time in 100 years.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said work will begin next year, and take four years to complete.

About $250 million of funding will come from the City of Perth council, Federal and State governments.

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Alkimos Eglinton
Western Australia 

Peet, Myer, MTAA Super Kick Off Biggest Perth Coastal Development in 50 Years

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Alkimos EglintonPERTH’s largest coastal development for more than 50 years has been launched in the Alkimos Eglinton area.

Peet Ltd has unveiled its $1.3 billion Alkimos development, about 40 kilometres north of the CBD. The land mooted for the development abuts another major block which the West Australian government is seeking to develop with a partner.

Combined, about 953 hectares of Perth’s famous coastline will be affected. LandCorp, Delfin Lend Lease, Mirvac and a consortium including Perth based developer Satterley Property Group, are reportedly shortlisted on the government tender to build more housing.

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Western Australia 

Football Federation Victoria Leaves Thornbury for St Kilda Road

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VICTORIA’s state governing body for soccer will relocate from a modest office in the middle of a northern suburb sports complex, to a relatively flash new headquarters in tree-lined St Kilda Road.
 
Football Federation Victoria has leased 845 square metres at Flight Centre’s 436 St Kilda Road office building, about five months ahead of the opening of the distinctive Rectangular Stadium, under construction on Olympic Boulevard, the new name for the part of Swan Street, west of Punt.

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Western Australia 

Perth David Jones, Hay Street Mall, Sells For $115 Million

PERTH’s David Jones store in the CBD has sold to the Singapore listed Starhill Global REIT for almost $115 million.

The asset was put to the market by MCS28, a syndicate managed by Centro Properties Group.

The 4-level property on Hay Street Mall was valued at $114.5 million in June (down 13 per cent since last year). It sold on a yield of 7.75 per cent.

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Western Australia 

Local Private Developers Pay $44 Million For Perth’s Holiday Inn City Centre

LOCAL private investors and developers George Atzemis and Constantine Berbatis have been revealed as the buyers to pay Eureka Funds Management $44 million for the Perth’s Holiday Inn City Centre.

The 181-room, 4.5 star hotel is expected to be refurbished.

“We believe the performance f the Holiday Inn in 2008 and 2009 makes it the cream of accommodation hotels in Australia,” Mr Aztzemis told the AFR.

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Western Australia 

Challenger Wine Trust to Sell $20 Million in Wineries

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THE CHALLENGER Wine Trust is understood to be selling about $20 million of dozens of vineyards around the country.

The trust’s manager Nick Gill told The Australian “We are in the process of reducing our gearing, as all property trusts are.”

“They are of varying sizes, all dotted across different parts of Australia, some in premium areas and some in less premium areas”.

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Western Australia 

Cottesloe Beach Hotel, Western Australia, For Sale

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BROOKFIELD Multiplex will sell Perth’s iconic Cottesloe Beach Hotel.

The developer failed to obtain a development permit after several years, and will sell the asset as an investment.

Its plans for a $100 million high rise building on the site seemed doomed in May when the Cottesloe Town Council decided to retain a three-storey height limit in the area.

Brookfield Multiplex paid $17 million for the Marine Parade property in 2003. The asking price this time around his not been disclosed.

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Western Australia 

Urbex Buys Out Babcock & Brown For $250 Million Ascot Vale Housing Project

BRISBANE-based developer Urbex has taken full control of a $250 million townhouse development in Ascot Vale, until recently a joint venture with Babcock & Brown Residential Land Partners.
 
The 17-hectare Ascot Chase project will be developed on a former Orica research centre bound by Doncaster, Stanford, Newsom and Walter streets, about seven kilometres north-west of the city. 

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Western Australia 

CFS Frontrunner to Buy Perth’s Lakeside Joondalup SC For $450 Million

COLONIAL First State Global Asset Management is understood to be in negotiations to buy Perth’s Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre in Perth for about $450 million.

The speculated sale price equates to a yield of about 7 per cent, and a markdown of $40 million, from the shopping centre’s $490 million valuation in June.
Other institutions reported as being interesteed in buying the centre include Lend Lease’s Australian Prime Property Fund and the Future Fund, which recently sold a substantial amount of Telstra shares.

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Western Australia 

Drapac Sells Leigh Mardon Complex, Highett, For More Than $17 Million

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THE massive Highett headquarters of security transaction products giant Leigh Mardon is understood to have sold to developer Hallmarc for more than $17 million.
 
The 2.13 hectare complex, within walking distance of the Southland Shopping Centre and Highett train station, includes a 4,643 square metre vacant site, which is expected to be developed into a retail, office and apartment complex. 

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Western Australia 

Finbar Pays $10.6 Million For Altus Site, East Perth

KORDAMENTHA, the administrator for failed property developer Saville Australia, has recovered $10.6 million from the sale of a Perth development site.

The Altus apartment development site in East Perth, has been purchased by a consortium including listed property developer Finbar and its joint venture partner Wembley Lakes Estate of Indonesia.

The developers plan to scale down the major apartment project that was proposed for the Altus site. Its new plans are for a 10-storey development with 220 apartments, to replace a 32-storey proposal with 250 larger apartments.

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Western Australia 

House prices flat – rents up; REIWA releases data for the Dec quarter of 2007

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Preliminary data by the Real Estate Institute of WA suggests Perth’s housing market was flat-lining in the December Quarter of 2007, with no movement either up or down for the last three months of last year.

However, REIWA President Rob Druitt said he expected the data to show a small overall increase once final settlements are processed.

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Western Australia 

Agents call for patience as rental crush resurfaces

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Real estate agents and property mangers are urging prospective tenants to be patient as the annual rental crush resurfaces in Perth.

President of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, Rob Druitt, said seasonal factors and the low vacancy rate for accommodation was causing stress with many over worked agencies struggling to keep up with enquiries.

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Western Australia 

Interest rate rise unwelcome in WA

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The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia said today’s lift in the official cash rate by the Reserve Bank was not surprising but was disappointing.

REIWA President Rob Druitt said the WA property market was ‘cool and stabilising’ after the boom and did not require any further brakes applied to it.

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Western Australia 

Ray White Invest & Blair Group Buy Currambine Marketplace, Perth, For More Than $50 Million

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Specialist direct property funds management group Ray White Invest and private retail developer Blair Group today announced the joint acquisition of the Currambine Marketplace in Perth from Woolworths Ltd for in excess of $50m with proposed expansion plans to significantly increase the value of the property.

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Western Australia 

No room at the inn: rental vacancy rates slump around Christmas

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Residential rental vacancy rates have averaged an all-time low of 1.9 per cent across Australia for the past two and a half years, according to data published today in the Mortgage Choice/Real Estate Institute of Australia (Canberra), Market Facts report, September quarter edition.

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Western Australia 

Commercial property in hot demand

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The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia this week released its inaugural Commercial Property Commentary on industrial sales and activity in the state.

The report shows that while the total value of reported sales over the last financial year reached $3.78 billion, the number of sales actually dropped by 16 per cent on the previous year.

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Western Australia 

Property boom should prompt tax reform

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Reports out this week that property taxes have already smashed Treasury’s May budget forecasts, come as no surprise to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

Treasury forecasts predict that property-related tax collections will rake in a staggering $2.04 billion from the 2005-06 financial year. This is up from $1.8 billion on previous estimates.

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Western Australia 

REIWA Awards for Excellence

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This year REIWA held its annual Awards for Excellence presentations at the gala dinner for the Insight Conference.

President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, Mr Graham Joyce, presented the awards which give official recognition to the property industry’s top performers.

There are 14 overall categories, but the judges are not obliged to choose a winner in each category if they feel the relevant criteria has not been fully met by nominees.

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Western Australia 

Perth house prices climbing again

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Perth’s resilient property market has bounced back from its modest slump in June, showing 2.4 per cent growth in price for the September quarter.

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, is expected to show the current median price of $450,000 for the June quarter climbed to around $460,000, up by about $10,000 and marginally below the $465,000 median reached in the March quarter.

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