High density development approved for Merrylands town centre

A 12,418sqm development site in the heart of Merrylands currently approved for 562 residential apartments and 4500 sqm of ground level retail with basement parking has been sold for $41 million.

The site, just one block away from the Merrylands railway station, was sold to Coronation Property by Stocklands with an existing DA for five high-density towers and retail and parking facilities.

Coronation is also looking to increase site yield given the Merrylands town centre planning controls have been amended.

Coronation managing director Joseph Nahas says the development, when completed, will include a number of build-to-rent and build-to-sell apartments.

An artist impression of the future Merrylands Town Centre. Pic courtesy of Stocklands.

He adds the Merrylands site, 52-54 McFarlane St, Merrylands, is viewed as a seed investment for Coronation’s build-to-rent business – something he believes is gaining traction in Australia with robust potential.

“Our goal will be to deliver 5,000 apartments over the next seven years, and we believe that Coronation Property will play a leading role in the establishment of the build-to-rent sector in Australia,” he says.

Coronation Property director Les Landerer says the shift in housing dynamics in Australia will spur the success of the build-to-rent housing model.

Merrylands Rd streetscape in the town centre at Merrylands. (AAP IMAGE / Troy Snook)

“The trend towards rental living has largely been evident in the younger generations and is driven by a lack of housing affordability, tighter credit conditions and changing lifestyle preferences with Millennials seeking mobility, flexibility and convenience,” he says.

“With buyers moving away from the ambition of housing ownership and increasingly into private housing rental, there is an environment where build-to-rent makes more and more sense for property developers.”

“The current economic conditions, the current supply and demand dynamics of the Australian rental market, as well as the change in generational housing and lifestyle preferences, the conditions are ripe for the establishment of an Australian residential build-to-rent sector.”

This article from The Daily Telegraph originally appeared as “High density apartment living slated for Merrylands town centre”.