Eco World International buys land in Sydney for project with GDV of RM435mil

KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World International Bhd has secured access to a prime development land in Sydney with plans to develop an A$139mil (RM435.35mil) gross development value (GDV) project there.

The project site is situated at 1-3 Lachlan Avenue, Macquarie Park, Sydney adjacent to Macquarie University in the Macquarie University Precinct, home to one of Australia’s top 10 universities and top 2% universities in the world that attracts thousands of international students annually.

EcoWorld International plans to develop 125 units of residential apartments with a small component of retail. The total estimated GDV of the project is A$139mil and it is targeted to be launched in the first half of 2019 and completed over three to four years from the date of launch

“We are delighted to be able to add the Macquarie Park site, which is situated in a fast-growing location extremely popular with Sydney-siders, to our growing project portfolio in Australia. Our decision to focus on serving the needs of the domestic property market began with the acquisition of the Yarra One site in South Yarra, Melbourne. 

“This was followed by our recent entry into the heads of agreement with Willmott Dixon to potentially acquire 12 projects in the UK. The announcement today is therefore in line with our overall strategy to localise our brand wherever we operate,” EcoWorld International president and CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng said in a statement. 

Eco World International said currently there was an  existing building located on the project site with 30 en-bloc apartment units. Under the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (Australia), 75% of unit owners in a strata scheme can agree to end their strata scheme, so the site can be redeveloped or sold.

EcoWorld International has entered into a call and put option agreement with owners of 25 of the apartment units to acquire these units by way of a collective sale. 

This represents approximately 84.2% of the strata scheme which enables EcoWorld International to proceed with the acquisition of all the apartment units through a strata renewal process under the Act.

The estimated purchase price to acquire the entire site is approximately AU$40mil and the proposed acquisition is expected to be completed by November 2018.