The $2 billion project is one of the largest urban renewal projects in Australia. When complete it will see Parramatta city rival Sydney’s CBD in terms of amenity and quality residential and commercial space.
The three hectare city style precinct will transform the heart of Parramatta CBD into a vibrant, cosmopolitan, commercial and residential precinct, with people attracted to the area to live, work and play.
The mixed-use development by Walker will accommodate two commercial buildings – incorporating retail and a range of café and restaurant amenity plus the tallest residential tower in Sydney, known as the Aspire Tower.
The precinct will also feature the 26,000 square metre University of Western Sydney Campus housing more than 10,000 university students.
There will be community facilities, a civic building, community centre, library and a 250 metre long thriving public domain in the heart of the city – critical to the activation of the project.
Chairman of Walker Corporation, Mr Lang Walker said: “This major project will see Parramatta City rival Sydney’s CBD, with a total of $8 billion to be invested in buildings and infrastructure over the next four years.
“The three stages we will work on form a substantial proportion of Parramatta Square and are critical to the success of the project. We are experienced in these sorts of major projects, with the development of five tower Collins Square in Melbourne well underway and the completed Rhodes Peninsula, both of which have become thriving commercial, retail and residential centres,” he added.
Walker will develop stage two, known as The Aspire Tower, a proposed mixed-use tower with up to 700 apartments, a hotel and ground level retail. The tower will be an iconic centrepiece to the Parramatta Square development. Construction expected to start in 2016.
Stages five and six will comprise dual commercial towers offering A-Grade premium office space with flexible floor plates and iconic design to meet the needs of all range of tenants.
The ground floor podium will feature more than 3,000 square metres of high quality retail space over two levels, with the lower ground level providing a crucial underground link to the Parramatta railway station.
Mr Walker said: “Parramatta Square presents us with an unrivalled opportunity to capitalise on the strength of the Parramatta office market. Parramatta has the lowest vacancy rate of any office market in Australia, and coupled with continued rental growth, we see this as a great opportunity to secure major government tenants and private sector tenants, some of which have already expressed interest in securing office space at Parramatta Square.
“This project will redefine the city of Parramatta and our experienced team has invested a significant amount of time and effort into the conceptual design and vision of the entire precinct which puts us in a good position to get started on this large-scale transformational project.
“I am very impressed with the can-do approach of the council, which has already forged ahead - seeking demolition approval for the local council offices and city library - and workers relocating from their council premises to make way for this important development,” added Mr Walker.
The entire precinct will be built to a minimum 5 Green Star rating in accordance with the standards for environmentally sustainable development, set by the Green Building Council Australia and will provide best practice benchmarks with third-party verification for sustainability and liveability at the precinct level.
