Council bags ex-Aldi at discount
EXCLUSIVE
Fairfield City Council has bought an ex-Aldi at the centre of a tangled property trail involving WiseTech Global founder Richard White, his wife Zena Nasser and businessman Ahmad Ahmad.
The 8228 square metre site, 366 The Horsley Drive, Fairfield, set it back $13.2 million including GST.
It came permit-ready for three eight storey buildings with 280 apartments, offices, a public plaza and basement car parking.
Council will propose something new.
The parcel at the edge of the suburb’s retail centre, near the train station and Fairfield Forum Shopping Centre.
Fairfield High School and the Fairfield Intensive English Centre are across the road.
“The property was acquired as an opportunity to secure a strategic and unique gateway site to Fairfield,” a spokesperson said.
“In the interim, the premises will be leased while we undertake planning for its longer-term redevelopment, with the aim of delivering meaningful economic and community outcomes,” they added.
Ray White Commercial’s Peter Vines, Victor Sheu, Troy Wang and Harry Veall were the agents.
Fairfield is about 32 kilometres south-west of Sydney’s CBD (continues below).
Next chapter for prime site
The Fairfield site contains a vacant 1500 sqm building.
The land is zoned Mixed Use 1, with a 27 metre height limit and 3.5:1 floor-space ratio.
Aldi Foods offloaded it for $8.715m in mid-2016.
The property was subsequently acquired by interests associated with developer Mark Merhi, who proposed the redevelopment scheme, before in 2020 being sold to Ahmad Ahmad’s Scraper Developments for $13.5m.
That sale was later questioned by liquidators of Mr Merhi’s collapsed businesses, who said the property had a potential sale value of $23.3m.
Meanwhile, interests associated with WiseTech Global founder Richard White provided finance to Mr Ahmad’s business secured against the property, linking Mr White to an asset whose previous sale had been questioned by liquidators.
That executive later said the arrangements had been assessed by his finance and legal teams and were conducted on commercial terms.
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