Badgerys a paradise for developers

Building the mini city that will service Sydney’s second airport is presenting remarkable opportunities.

Developer Arnold Vitocco. Picture: Jane Dempster

While there are green shoots coming through the nation’s property market since the federal election, buyers remain cautious, according to prominent developer Arnold Vitocco.

Speaking at an exclusive event for The Australian subscribers in Sydney on Tuesday night, Mr Vitocco said buyers were in control of the market.

“Since the election there has been an enormous amount of confidence with people getting out to look at estates. But translating that to sales is harder. The buyers that are there are cautious. They are well informed, they know the prices and they know what they want,” he said.

Mr Vitocco told the audience that southwest Sydney was the most exciting place for property development at the moment, adding that the coming second airport at Badgerys Creek was helping transform the area.

The scale of the development taking place in the area, the airport and associated development was creating enormous opportunity across many sectors.

“It is an enormous, it is like all the planets aligning at once. You’ve got federal and state governments and bipartisan support from all sides, all wanting to see it happen,” he said.

“So you’ve got rail, road and the airport happening, which I’ll never see again.

“They’re got to build something the size of Adelaide in and around Badgerys Creek. The scale is breathtaking. Think of the opportunities that happen in Adelaide, well that is all going to happen for us there.

“You name it, a new business is required out there. We need lawyers, we need orthodontists out there. It is funny to say, but there is so much that is wanted.”

Mr Vitocco was one of three members of The List — Australia’s Richest 250 to appear at the event, alongside hotel owner Jerry Schwartz and billionaire Shaun Bonett, the chief executive of commercial property asset holder Precision Group.

The joint owner of the huge Narellan Town Centre shopping centre, ranked ninth in the country for turnover at $550 million annually, with billionaire Tony Perich, Mr Vitocco said the families were developing 30,000 housing lots which would serve as added potential shoppers and help deal with shifting consumer patterns in the retail sector.

“That is 100,000 people creating our own community for our own shopping centre. But you need to diversity your retail offering for them,” he said.

“The internet is one thing for us to deal with (but) at the end of the day people want to go out and dress up and interact. It is our job as landlords to have things there that are interesting for them.”

Mr Bonett, who also owns shopping centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, said it was up to landlords and tenants to work together to deal with growing online retail sales and make it attractive for people to still head to their malls.

“A revolution is happening. Big is no longer the best. I see the transformation more about the streamlined integration between the physical and online. Investment in logistics by both retailers and landlords is what it is all about,” he said.

Mr Bonett said a similar revolution was happening in the office sector, in which he also owns significant assets. He predicted virtual reality meetings and technology would change the way office blocks were built.

Dr Schwartz, who owns hotels such as the Sofitel at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, said he was being offered hotels to buy across the country but wanted to stick to Sydney, despite room rates falling, and the Gold Coast.

“I like to buy a hotel a year. You look for a hotel that takes your fancy. I look for what the asset already is and the potential to improve it,” he said.

“The Sydney CBD is the darling of hotels in Australia.”