Developers PAYCE and Sekisui House are the driving force behind Melrose Park, one of Sydney’s largest urban renewal projects.
Located 6km from Parramatta, the 30-hectare site will eventually be home to 6000 new apartments. The project will also see the construction of a town centre and retail village, community and childcare facilities and 5 hectares of open space and parks.
Future residents at Melrose Park will not only be moving into new homes, but an entirely new community, says PAYCE director Dominic Sullivan.
“When buying off-the-plan you’re buying something that has yet to be created, it doesn’t exist, so you need to be able to have confidence that the company you’re dealing with has the capability and financial capacity to deliver,” he says.
Boston marketing director Rhys Morgan, who has been engaged to market the project, says the track record of developers is becoming increasingly important to buyers.
“Buyers are not just looking at price, location and lifestyle – they want to be assured they are buying from a company that can deliver what it promises,” he says.
“They are also very interested in the design and construction process. Traditionally we have received few inquiries about this but now construction quality, from the foundations to the final fit-out, is top of mind for buyers.”
In response, PAYCE has introduced a peer-review system.
“We have a gold standard, which means we go above and beyond the standard building requirements in Sydney and NSW,” explains Sullivan. “We only work with quality, registered and accredited design professionals and then engage an accredited company to peer-review the work.”
Michael Malak, managing director at project management consultancy company JAPM, and his team have been employed to ensure Melrose Park lives up to the standards promised to buyers.
“We’re responsible for managing the builder and the delivery of the building work to completion and basically to handover to the purchasers,” he says.
Malak says the peer-review system being employed at Melrose Park is best practice and offers peace of mind to buyers that what they purchase off-the-plan is what they will get.
“We work hard to ensure every sequence and process is managed correctly, with no shortcuts, so full certification is achieved and the workmanship is of a high quality.”
PAYCE first began developing property in Sydney in 1978 and took on its first major renewal project at Wentworth Point, a development comprising more than 2000 apartments across 18 buildings.
The Australian-owned company went on to partner with the NSW Government to transform a social housing precinct into a vibrant new community, Washington Park, at Riverwood, in Sydney’s south-west. PAYCE was also behind the development of East Village in Zetland, which features 206 apartments and a shopping centre with 48 retail and commercial businesses.
As one of the world’s largest developers, Sekisui House has built over 2.4 million homes. The company’s impressive credentials include involvement in the development of One Central Park in Sydney’s Chippendale, which was awarded the World’s Best Tall Building in 2014.
Sullivan says successful urban renewal projects provide all the essentials at residents’ doorsteps.
With supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, parks, smart technology and transport all on-site at Melrose Park, the new community aims to deliver just that.
To find out more about Melrose Park, click here.
