Parramatta CBD is red hot!
Ray White Commercial have recently completed two Parramatta CBD Between the Lines Research reports covering both the Office and Retail markets.
The Parramatta CBD office market has been one of the strongest performing asset classes across Australia. These quality results have continued into 2017 keeping vacancies the second lowest in the country at just 4.3%. Parramatta CBD however is still within a construction phase with over 180,000sqm of office stock currently under construction and poised to enter the market in the next few years. With vacant options limited and the current high employment demand, rents have seen upward momentum while the limited investment stock has seen yield pressured downwards.
The Parramatta skyline has been a hive of activity, with office and residential developments scattered around the city. Net office additions however have been limited in more recent times with increased withdrawal rates due to rezoning opportunities, more recently in the six months to July 2017 there has been no new supply added. However, there are a number of large scale developments currently underway including DEXUS Property Group’s recently sold 105 Phillip Street to Charter Hall which will see 25,000sqm completed in mid 2018 to be occupied by Department of Education. This will be followed by stages 3, 4 and 6 of Parramatta City Council’s Parramatta Square development which is expected to add 156,000sqm of office stock by late 2019. Given that a high volume of this space is already committed, there has been some question surrounding the need for additional commercial development with the Council bringing some consideration to a change of use for already approved residential developments in the city.
Download the full Between the Lines on the Parramatta CBD Office market here
Retail:
The suburb of Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney has gone through a massive rejuvenation and revitalisation in recent years, this continues across the Parramatta CBD with continued investment and confidence in the region and with many future plans it is likely to continue this momentum over the medium term.
Home to the fourth largest metropolitan office market in Australia and boasting the lowest vacancy rate in Sydney; this highlights the prosperity of the region and the size of the workforce. Couple this with the 30.66% increase in population over the last five years to 24,798 (Census 2016) driven by the vast increase in high density residential development, growing the total housing stock by 24.93% over the last five years according to the 2016 Census.
A vibrant workforce as well as growing population pool has made this a key location for retailers. Parramatta is also home to one of the busiest rail nodes in Sydney which an average of 400,000 commuters pass through daily, a new university campus as well as being the location of various infrastructure projects designed to aid the travel in and out of the city. This ongoing transformation of the CBD has now dictated a need for the upgrade and investment into retailing which has seen new tenants emerge and a revitalisation of secondary assets into prime retail holdings.
Download the full Between the Lines of the Parramatta CBD Retail market here