Wentworthville Mall in Sydney's west has been sold to Poly Australia as the Austino Property Group have struggled to kick off the re-development of the Centre.
The neighbourhood shopping centre currently contains approx 7,450sqm of retail space with a Super IGA and 31 specialties.
Most of the Centre is either vacant or trading with short term leases in place.
Austino Property Group, who acquired the asset in 2011 for $18.3M, struck problems with their vendor, Metroland group following a shortfall in income on the acquisition. Shortly after the sale, Metroland went into receivership and Austino sought to ensure that it could enforce a rental guarantee, lodging a $2.8M claim. Austino pursued the claim to the Supreme Court and lost an appeal in 2013.
Austino nevertheless pursued plans to seek approval to redevelop the 9,600sqm site to include a larger and modern shopping centre with two residential towers on top fronting Dunmore Street and 8 storey European style building fronting Pritchard Street and basement parking for retail, commercial and residential users.
The planning proposal was recommended by the Council to go to the State Government for determination and the State approved the plan in January 2018.
The redevelopment is proposed to accommodate over 9,000sqm of ground floor retail including a brand new full line supermarket and first floor commercial spaces, and approximately 500 units.
The downturn in the residential pre-sales market has led the Austino Group to sell the project. At this stage the sale price is undisclosed, however is likely to be in excess of $35m.
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