The major property development and investment company recently completed Norwest Business Park’s first commercial knockdown/rebuild at ‘22B Norwest’ in Brookhollow Avenue.
“This is an excellent display of confidence by Capital Corporation in The Sydney Hills ahead of the arrival of the North West Rail Link and new buildings like 22B Norwest represent the start of new growth within the business park,” Mayor Byrne told WSBA.
“Right now is a very good time for businesses to consider locating or expanding to Norwest and get ahead of the game.”
Capital Corporation has developed more than 40 commercial buildings in Norwest Business Park and signalled further redevelopments slated.
22B Norwest is now an 11,000sqm, seven-storey mix of office accommodation, specialty showroom and serviced apartments, with tenants including Adina Apartment Hotels, Eden Brae Homes, Home Option Gallery and Twenty Two Cafe Bar & Grill.
“Capital Corporation has seen firsthand the changes to Norwest Business Park since we first became involved in 1990,” Capital Corporation Director, Steve Grant, said.
“As such, we are able to recognise the redevelopment and growth potential of the area - and 22B Norwest was one such redevelopment opportunity.”
A few hundred metres further along Brookhollow Avenue, commercial buildings have already been flattened to make way for the construction of the new Norwest Station.
Mayor Byrne said for many years, residents and businesses had called for improved transport options and The Hills Shire Council acknowledged the State Government’s confidence in the region through its investment in significant infrastructure.
“The North West Rail Link is expected to present many opportunities for residents and businesses,” she said. “Congestion will be addressed, residents will have a more direct and quicker commute to their jobs in the CBD, students will be able to get to university by train for the first time, and local businesses will have greater access to a wider pool of employees.”
The rail corridor spanning Macquarie Park to Norwest, with rail assets that among the state’s newest and most modern and the help of state government changes to the planning system, have paved the way for higher-density housing and the prospect of best practice transit-oriented development.
“There's no question that with Sydney growing by 1.1 million people over the next 20 years, higher densities are going to feature,” Mayor Byrne said.
“(The Hills ) Council will play its part by rezoning land following the community consultation that is part of the Master Planning process currently being conducted by the Department of Planning.”
But Ryde Council, which oversees planning around in Macquarie Park’s three train stations and several others outside the precinct, could be the weakest link in efforts to maximise the opportunity for Sydney’s future generations.
Ryde’s planners have resisted the higher-density density housing being encouraged by the NSW Government to meet Sydney’s future population growth.
But the recent departure of Ryde’s unpopular general manager, John Neish, in what were believed to have been controversial circumstances, may be the long-awaited catalyst for change.
Ryde Councillor Jeff Salvestro-Martin said the North West Rail Link would connect two strategically important commercial precincts and create a unique opportunity for sustainable housing, which could also incorporate social housing.
“More importantly, the opportunity for residents to more easily commute to their workplaces has a whole range of benefits,” Cr Salvestro-Martin, who will be Labor’s candidate for Bennelong in the federal election, said.
“We need to work closely and cooperatively with progressive councils like The Hills – regardless of any party political differences - to achieve an excellent outcome for residents, who spend far too much of their working week stuck in traffic snarls and delayed transport services.”
The new Draft Metropolitan Strategy has revised the estimated figure of 30,000 new jobs by 2036 to 46,000. Total sales from Norwest represent $5.7 billion, representing 34.6 per cent of the total Sydney Hills economy. That’s expected to more than double over the next 20 years.
There are also plans for another 5,650 homes immediately surrounding the business park, which NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has nominated as prime example of a successful commercial centre that others should follow.
