Haben takes home $52.1 million in compulsory acquisition deal.
The Sydney Metro Authority has completed the compulsory acquisition of St Marys’ Station Plaza owned by the Haben Property Group.
The Authority has paid $52.1m to Haben and more to the individual businesses in the Centre affected by the acquisition. It is expected that the stores will be required to close in early 2022.
Station Plaza is located directly opposite St Marys existing heavy rail train station and bus terminal and will become a major transport interchange with the proposed Western Sydney Metro connecting the Western Sydney Airport & St Marys. The Metro Authority are planning to extend the line to north east to the existing Tallawong Station on the North West line.
The shopping centre currently provides about 6,500sqm of floor space including a supermarket (3,460sqm), 13 smaller
or speciality shops, and 420sqm of offices.
The Centre was Haben’s 2nd major acquisition and was acquired in 2012 for $13.5m.
Prior to the acquisition, the Centre was anchored by a strong performing Coles supermarket, complemented by 15 specialty stores. Haben Property Group recently established a new childcare centre, Bluebird Early Education, accommodating over 100 children opening in September 2020 and undertook a major interior and exterior refurbishment to modernise the Centre and improve the overall customer experience.
Whilst this centre was purchased for its income distribution, its proximity to the Western Sydney Airport led Haben to seek approval for the development of 600 units on the site, and after agreeing a Voluntary Planning Agreement with the Penrith City Council, the Planning Scheme was approved to increase the building height from 32 metres to 61 metres and FSR from 3:5:1 to 5:5:1, providing a strong uplift in value.
Following the compulsory acquisition notice, Haben sought to develop a new Centre in deal with the Council in relation to a nearby car park, however this has not eventuated.
Haben continue to be active in the market having recently acquired Casey Central from M&G Investments for $225m and in July last year acquired 2 Centres from Stockland for $265m.
