Department of Defence $3b portfolio sell-down begins
The first of 67 Department of Defence sites listed for sale last quarter – a public land portfolio worth over $3 billion – has found a buyer.
The former Penrith Training Depot at 11 Mountain View Crescent collected $23 million from Urban Property Group.
Spanning 3.6 hectares beside the Thornton urban renewal precinct, walking distance to Penrith train station, several apartment buildings are expected.
Defence deemed the site surplus to needs in 2017; it originally formed part of a 47ha base occupied by the Royal Australian Engineers (much of that land is now Thornton).
Public land sell-down begins
Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the enormous portfolio sell-down in February; up for grabs are islands and golf courses as well as military sites.
Unlike many properties, Penrith isn’t heritage protected (continues below).
It is also not contaminated; the government is expected will need to spend a total of at least c$1.2b to remove, amongst other things, explosive residue and firefighting foams, on the other blocks.
Urban backs west Sydney again
Urban has developed low density housing on sites acquired from Landcom in Thornton and Edmondson Park.
It is also behind higher density and mixed-use projects in central Penrith – about 55 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD.
Last week it was permitted to build a major build-to-rent based project with over 800 apartments in central Parramatta, 20 km west of town.
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