Apartment owners in three Macquarie Park blocks combine to list mega site

Unit owner Martin Chung said he set out to convince owners to sell as a group after discovering that a developer had bought two apartments in his building.

“We knew that developers would give us a hard time,” Mr Chung said.

He and two other owners, Deepak Thite and Neil Thomas, then decided that they needed to “get proactive and understand” new state strata laws – which allow for a building to be sold if 75 per cent of the building’s ownership agree – concerned that the developer could continue to buy up apartments until it had the required majority.

“We were trying to get together to get better value instead of being pushed out,” Mr Chung said.

The 41 owners have signed a deed of agreement to sell the three blocks consisting of 15 two-bedroom apartments in each, equating to 91 per cent of the combined unit entitlements, according to the selling agents Savills.

The deal, drafted by Mr Ian McKnight of ClarkeKann Lawyers, took more than a year to agree on and largely consisted of small meetings in Mr Chung’s kitchen and at Macquarie Shopping Centre.

“It was hard, I’m being honest with you,” Mr Chung said.

Listing agent Stuart Cox, from Savills, said that achieving a 91 per cent majority in favour of selling was “extraordinary”.

“The existing 41 of the 45 owners have been working together over the course of the last 18 months to put this site together. This has been an extraordinary experience whereby three separate stratums have combined together to capitalise on the uplift associated with these sites,” he said.

Commercial Real Estate understands that the developer has not joined the deed of agreement.

The prime 3852-square-metre site could allow the buyer to build a 65-metre, mixed-use tower of up to 21 storeys, with 200 apartments and three commercial suites across a potential gross floor area of 17,334 square metres, the agents said.

A rendering of what the new development at Cottonwood Crescent could look like. Photo: Supplied

Demand is expected to come from local and international developers.

“Rezoned opportunities like this rarely become available in growth suburbs of this scale and we expect significant interest from local, interstate and offshore developers, looking to make their mark in Sydney,” Savills’ Neil Cooke said.

“Since 2009, when the Chatswood to Epping Railway line opened, the demand for investor and owner-occupier grade dwellings has soared, with the average unit [price] growing…an average of 11.8 per cent per annum.”

The current properties on the site consist of three residential flat buildings on separate strata titles, each four storeys high and with ground-floor garage parking.

Under the deal, existing residents will be given the first right of refusal to buy into a new apartment. Mr Chung said that more than half of residents had expressed an intention to remain at the site, which is 100 metres from Macquarie Centre, Macquarie University and the railway station.

Mr Cox said it would be only a matter of time before another merger deal hit the market.

“We are definitely going to see more of this going forward as the gentrification of Sydney continues to occur around major transport nodes. This is currently being experienced around Marrickville, Burwood, Strathfield, Macquarie Park and the general inner-west belt,” he said.