Ray White Commercial Western Sydney buys Parramatta office building in off-market deal
A real estate agency has bought a Parramatta building for $4.4 million in an off-market deal that will see the one-year-old firm relocate its headquarters.
The property at 15-17 Argyle Street is 790 square metres in size, spread over three levels and is partially leased. The deal was handled by Jon Race, of Khoury & Partners.
Mr Race said the sale occurred after an approach from Ray White Commercial Western Sydney managing director Peter Vines.
“Sub-$10 million buildings are just hard to come by in Parramatta these days,” he said.
Mr Vines said the firm had decided to buy a freehold building in one of their biggest markets.
“There are virtually no freehold assets of this size [in Parramatta] which get sold and the market is very tightly held,” Mr Vines said.
“We like the building because it allowed us to add value to it by renovating and repositioning it with tenants, as well as occupy it ourselves. It is also a few hundred metres from Westfield and Parramatta Square.”
The sale comes as uncertainty continues to hang over Sydney’s broader office market, with rising occupancy rates and fewer transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Mr Vines said the long-term fundamentals of the Parramatta market meant it was as good a time as any to buy.
“We are strong believers in Parramatta and western Sydney. We believe that Parramatta given its central location and more affordable price point will continue to grow and expand despite the current COVID challenges,” he said.
Mr Race said the level of government investment in Parramatta and the state’s long-term strategic planning involving the city meant the pandemic had less of an effect on the market.
“The outlook for Parramatta is strong, you’ve got a lot of infrastructure backed by the government here. You’ve got driving forces like the Western Sydney Airport and the metro,” he said.
“It’s gearing up to be the major city [in Sydney] – not the second CBD, the CBD. There’s no sign of slowing down.”
Ray White Commercial will relocate to the building from its current headquarters at Level 6, 80 George Street, Parramatta, within the next year.
“We will look to move our business in the property in the near future. The acquisition comes almost exactly 12 months from when we started the Western Sydney business which is obviously very exciting for us,” Mr Vines said.
“We will get in and do some refurb works for ourselves to occupy in around 12 months. Initially we will only occupy part of the building but in time it is planned that we will occupy the whole thing or trade up and buy something bigger.”
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