Rare Leichhardt development site sells to Chinese buyer for about $55m
Chinese group Changfa Investments has made its debut in the Australian residential property market, snapping up the rare Leichhardt development site at 141 Allen Street in inner west Sydney.
While the sale price was confidential, sources indicated it to be about $55 million.
The NSW Department of Planning said that, had the then Leichhardt council agreed to its rezoning in 2012, it would have been completed in 12 months back in 2012.
Changfa is part of the diversified conglomerate Jiangsu Changfa Group from China’s Jiangsu province and manufactures agricultural equipment and refrigeration equipment and invests in real estate.
The group will now try its hand at building the 139-apartment project at Allen Street, across six buildings between four and six storeys tall. There will also be basement parking for 124 vehicles.
An artist’s impression of the Leichhardt development.
Changfa plans to keep developing luxury residential projects in Australia following this first purchase as well as take a stake in office investments.
Exceptional result
The company had to fend off 28 parties to buy the site, coveted because of the lack of residential sites in Leichhardt, five kilometres west of the Sydney CBD.
“141 Allen Street received 315 enquires and nearly 10 per cent of these translated into offers which is an exceptional result,” said Colliers International’s Guillaume Volz, who sold the site with Ryan Bennetts and Zhenni Lu.
“Stock levels in 2017 have come to a halt, with buyer interest shifting from mass market locations to prime core residential locations such as Leichhardt and the eastern suburbs.”
“However, a lack of planning in inner-city locations means that not enough focus has been given to address areas where people really want to live, resulting in a shortage of new supply in core areas.”
Citing Colliers’ research, Mr Volz said only 524 units had either been constructed or were under construction in Leichardt since 2009.
Relative premium
The last time a site sold in Leichhardt was in 2014, to Chinese developer Greenland Group.
Mr Volz also said the sale price was at a relative premium to prices achieved for similar type sites in inner Sydney in 2016 and could be attributed to demand for Leichhardt as a suburb.
Chairman of Changfa Group George Huang said he was attracted to the site mainly because it was in an area that lacked development.
A Sydney eastern suburbs family sold the site.
