Meriton buys big Green Square Town Centre site

THE Meriton group has snared one of the last, and what it considers the ‘best’, major development sites at Green Square Town Centre, the heart of a vibrant urban community taking shape at Zetland in Sydney’s inner south.

The Harry Triguboff-led group is buying the North-facing site at 811 Elizabeth, across the road from the new Gunyama Park and Aquatic Centre, in what is the latest chapter in an ongoing Meriton love affair with Zetland.

No price has been revealed for the deal, which is to settle in April 2018.

The seller is AMHA Properties, which put the 9,693sqm site to international tender in August through Knight Frank.

AMHA bought the property, home to a 10,000sqm building, from Daimler Chrysler Australia/Pacific for $15.956 million in 2006.

The property has a mixed-use zoning, three street frontages and the potential for the development of multiple towers looking north with uninterrupted city and district views to the Sydney CBD.

Meriton has been developing in Zetland and nearby suburbs Rosebery and Waterloo for 20 years.

It has completed over ten apartment projects in and around Zetland in the last decade.

Mr Triguboff yesterday said that Zetland was a blue-chip location within easy reach of the CBD and the airport and the advent of Green Square had the area ‘pulsating’.

“We’ve been rather passionate about Zetland for quite a while and we’ve hit the mark with our judgment.

“We are achieving record sales results at nearby sites currently selling including Symphony in Zetland which is almost sold out with 5 months still left for construction and The Gallery in Rosebery.

“The town centre and ever-improving infrastructure mean people want to not just live there but to enjoy the leisure-time, shopping and dining options that are evolving.”

The 278ha Green Square town centre is a $13 billion renewal project which started in December 2007, at the intersection of Botany Road, O’Riordan and Bourke Streets, due for completion in 2030.

The Elizabeth Street site is 600 metres from the Green Square train station and there are numerous bus options nearby.

The site has frontage to the public transport corridor the council has secured through planning requirements which they envisage will accommodate a light rail network connecting directly to the city.

Meriton’s buy adjoins the former South Sydney Hospital site which will be redeveloped to include a cultural and creative centre.