The NSW Government’s Landcom has sold 1.8ha of development land in Macquarie Park, in Sydney’s north, for $135m.
The site, which forms part of Lachlan’s Line is capable of being developed into 950 apartments and is being acquired by Landmark Group.
Lachlan’s Line is a major urban regeneration project over nine hectares launched in 2013. Fraser’s Australia purchased the station north site, yielding 380 apartments, in 2013. In late 2014, Greenland Australia Investment then secured a 1.2ha, mixed-use site for shops, community facilities and around 900 apartments.
The land to be acquired by Landmark Group includes four lots, ranging in size from 2656sqm to 6397sqm and with a capacity for approximately 82,212 sqm of GFA.
The NSW Government has appointed Community Housing Group, Link Wentworth Housing, to oversee the provision of 95 affordable dwellings on the site. It is likely that the deal with Landmark will incorporate the provision of these homes to Link Wentworth for key workers in the area.
Landmark Group have successfully completed billions of dollars worth of residential, commercial, retail, industrial, medical and club developments across Sydney over the past 20 years.
Landmark and other major apartment developers have been enhancing their quality assurance systems to provide potential purchasers greater peace of mind following several years of consistent headlines pointing to the failures of developers to build quality buildings.
Landmark now engages two separate engineering firms to independently check each other’s design on building structure, as well as all fire, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic services and have dedicated staff for each building for three months after the building is completed to fine-tune the building and be on call to immediately fix any issues identified. The Group currently offer an extended warranty on the building structure to 10 years, from the NSW legislative requirement of 6 years.
Last month, the NSW Government has announced a collaboration to develop a world-first construction assurance tool, to help Fair Trading and the insurance industry access a residential apartment building’s quality and compliance with construction standards.
Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson said, “This tool will show us what products were used, who made them, what testing certifications are held and, who installed and certified building work. Practitioners who build and design in NSW will now have a digital fingerprint that will attach to every project they have worked on.”