Meriton asks Bayside Council to move development into more pricey suburb
PROPERTY giant Meriton has asked a local council to move its boundaries and put a $3 billion apartment complex into a suburb with higher property prices.
NSW
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PROPERTY giant Meriton has asked a local council to move its boundaries and put a $3 billion apartment complex into a suburb with higher property prices.
The 3000 apartment complex is being built by Meriton next door to the Westfield at Eastgardens near Maroubra in Sydney’s south.
But the developer has now asked Bayside Council to move the suburb boundary and rezone it as part of Pagewood where property values and rents are higher.
Bayside councillor Paul Sedrak said: “When a big boy like Meriton knocks on your door you have got to have the right know how and be ready.
“This type of thing happens a lot for financial gain I presume. All I know is that we are going to debate long and hard about it.”
According to CoreLogic research in August the average house price in Pagewood was $1.77 million compared with $1.53 million in Eastgardens. Property prices in Pagewood went up by 16.3 per cent over the year compared with 11.1 per cent in Eastgardens.
The development is the biggest ever undertaken by Meriton’s billionaire boss Harry Triguboff and is already called Pagewood Green, despite being in Eastgardens.
It is being built on the site of the old Pagewood Film Studio on Bunnerong Road, which was only renamed Eastgardens when the Westfield shopping centre was opened in 1999.
The move has won the support of the Botany Historical Trust and will now be opened for public consultation.
A Bayside Council spokesman said he would know if there was any local opposition “once the Public Consultation period ends”.
But the call to rezone the development has left Local real estate agent Martin Farah, from NG Farah, baffled. “There is very little price difference between the suburbs so I am left scratching my head for a reason,” he said.
“But you are talking about Australia’s richest man and he is very good at what he does so he must have a reason, I just don’t know what it is.
“My mum lives in Pagewood and truthfully it borders East Botany and industrial areas so I think they would be better off leaving the development in Eastgardens,” he said.
A spokesman for the developer said: “Meriton has no comment at this stage”.
Mother-of-two Kate Moloney lives in Maroubra, only five minutes drive from Eastgardens, and said she was against the new development because it will make the area less attractive for families.
“It is scary actually, I already feel closed in this community and I don’t know how accommodating it will be for that many people to share the current amenities we have, the beach and transportation into the city,” the 35-year-old said.
“We don’t own our home, but we would like to. But there is no way we can compete with investors and developers like Meriton.
“None of that (the development) looks appealing, to be right next to a shopping centre. To me, It will look and feel like Zetland, like a pop up town with no character to it. If I was a family, I wouldn’t buy there.
“It’s already very squashed. We don’t want to move, Maroubra is our home. But we feel closed in and might have to keep going South if we want to buy our own home.”