By: THAVAMANI S. RETNAM

Aussie launch: (from left) Yap, Liew, Teow and Eco World Development Group Bhd executive director Liew Tian Xiong at the launch of the EcoWorld Gallery West Village, Parramatta, recently.

FRESH off the Eco World brand making a splash in both the local and London property scenes, Eco World International (EWI) has gone into the Australian market in a big way, with its maiden foray there garnering a 90% reserve rate even before its official launch.

West Village in Parramatta comprises a 40-storey tower and a seven-storey podium block, and offers 397 luxury one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with a vibrant retail precinct on the ground floor and an exclusive residents’ rooftop terrace overlooking the Blue Mountains and Sydney Central Business District (CBD).

It comes with serene landscaped gardens designed by award-winning celebrity landscape designer Myles Baldwin, offers an impressive rooftop Chef’s Kitchen and residents’ lounge for private functions and parties, and an indoor driving range golf simulator that allows golf lovers to play the top-20 golf courses in the world, among others.

West Village is a mere 10-minute walk to Parramatta, Sydney’s second CBD and Australia’s fifth largest after Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. Parramatta was identified as the No. 1 investor’s hotspot in Australia by the country’s leading property portal realestate.com.au in May.

In The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Ranking for 2015, Sydney emerged as the seventh best city in the world to live in.

Property consultant CoreLogic RP Data, meanwhile, says in the year to June, Sydney’s annual home value growth rate sped up to 16.2% from 15.4% a year earlier. Tim Lawless, head of research at RP Data, had noted in a report that since home prices began to take off back in May 2012, Sydney has boasted gains of almost 48%.

Luxurious project: West Village has a GDV of A$300mil. (Below) The interior of West Village spells rest and relaxation amid luxurious settings.

Parramatta, about 23 km west of the Sydney CBD, is on the cusp of a major transformation, with West Village set to lead the way in setting a benchmark in residential living.

Already a thriving health, sports, education, arts and entertainment precinct, Parramatta – base for 30% of Australia’s top-500 companies like BlueScope Steel, Coca Cola, Qantas and Telstra – is one of the most exciting urban hotspots to call home.

There are over 300 restaurants, bars and cafes in the greater Parramatta Area. At the heart of this is Church Street – a cosmopolitan hive of activity just a short stroll from West Village.

Riverside Theatre at the northern end of Church Street hosts a range of productions, including drama, comedy and ballet.

Parramatta’s expected population growth is by 44% to 260,000 in 2031 from the present 180,000. Its expected gross regional product growth is by 215% to A$30.2bil in 2031 from A$14bil last year, and its expected employment growth is by 37.5% to 165,000 in 2036 from 120,000 in 2014.

Further, almost 50% of the expected population growth consists of tertiary educated professionals in the 20-49 age bracket, indicating Western Sydney’s economic vitality.

It is also the best-performing commercial leasing market in Australia with the lowest vacancy rate in A grade tenancy at 2.4%, with Sydney at 11%.

A total of A$13bil (RM39.74bil) in government funding has been allocated for Parramatta’s West Connex Highway as well as its future North West High Speed Light Rail. The aim of the West Connex Highway is to halve travel times from Parramatta to Sydney CBD from 35 minutes to 15 minutes, and Sydney Airport from 50 minutes to 30 minutes, while the North West Light Rail Network will provide Parramatta with high-speed connectivity to Northern and Western Sydney with trains leaving every 10 minutes.

West Village’s built-up ranges from 538 sq ft to 1,290 sq ft, with prices ranging from A$550,000 to A$650,000 for a one-bedroom unit to A$900,000 to A$1.3mil for a three-bedroom unit. This roughly translates into a price tag of A$1,208 per sq ft.

The project, which has a gross development value (GDV) of A$300mil (RM919mil), enjoys good connectivity to Sydney CBD via a 30-minute train ride from the Parramatta Train Station – the third busiest station in New South Wales – located just a five-minute walk away from the site.

Largest mall

It is also a five-minute walk to Westfield Parramatta Shopping Centre, the largest shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere with over 500 shops and over 30 million visitors annually, and a 10-minute walk to University of Western Sydney’s CBD Campus and University of New England’s CBD campus. It is also 10 minutes to Westmead Medical Precinct by car, a 15-minute walk to Parramatta Ferry Wharf, a 15-minute walk to the Aquatic Centre and Pirtek Sports Stadium, 15 minutes to golf courses by car and 45 minutes to Sydney Airport by train.

Designed by internationally acclaimed firm Woods Bagot, each unit is designed with rest and relaxation in mind. Think mirrored kitchen splashbacks and brushed stainless steel joinery handles and bespoke timber veneer dining tables. Every apartment is fitted out with Miele Appliances, stone benches and islands, externally ducted range hoods plus timber floorboards and joinery.

The Village Green will feature big names like gourmet providores Salt Meets Cheese and the highly regarded Malaysian restaurant Chinta Ria.

West Village offers a choice of two interior schemes – River and Urban. They come with their own private balconies and refined natural finishes.

At the launch of the EcoWorld Gallery@West Village, Parramatta recently, EWI’s deputy chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin was all smiles, saying, “We are delighted to debut the Eco World brand in Australia with such a strong project located in Parramatta, the fastest-growing CBD and No 1 investors’ hotspot in Australia,” adding, “The site’s fantastic location with unrivalled access to a host of amenities provides us with a wonderful opportunity to create a stunning new icon for Parramatta.”

He added that he is happy with West Village design-wise and heartened by its reception, which is in line with the group’s strategy of trying to break even fast.

Previews for West Village began in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Indonesia in late June followed by China/Hong Kong in July this year. Response to West Village has been good from both locals and foreigners alike, with 90% of the units already reserved year-to-date with only the remaining 10% to be retained for its official launch at the end of the month, added Yap Foo Leong, the CEO of Eco World Sydney Development Pty Ltd.

EWI is a special-purpose vehicle established by the major shareholders of Eco World Development Group Bhd in 2013 to acquire real estate assets overseas for development. The Eco World brand is helmed by some of the most well-known and respected corporate and industry players in Malaysia, aided ably by the youthful energy and enthusiasm of its vast team in its bid to ‘Create Tomorrow and Beyond’.

In less than two years, the group has launched several projects in the Klang Valley, Penang and Iskandar Malaysia, which include affordable, upgraded luxury homes, integrated high-rise developments and green business parks amassing over 5,000 acres and ongoing projects with a GDV of RM65bil. Most of the projects in the Klang Valley and Johor have enjoyed take-up rates of 80% and above.

The group also has three developments in London, namely, London City Island (LCI), Embassy Gardens and Wardian London, which in combination with West Village have a combined GDV of about RM14.04bil.

Datuk Teow Leong Seng, president and CEO of EWI, had noted in a previous report that the two blocks in LCI, which is located in east London, had garnered a take-up of 84% as at June 15.

The three sites in London will see approximately 2,500 units of private residential apartments being developed to meet the strong demand in the growing East and South London regions

Construction in West Village, meanwhile, is slated to begin in the second quarter of next year and the project will take three years to be completed, according to Teow. He goes on to say that “we at EWI are very excited that this is our first foray into Australia and it has become a huge success.

We look forward to many more projects in Parramatta in Sydney as well as in Melbourne. It is our intention to make our brand known not only in Malaysia and London but also in Australia.”

The Sydney site was acquired by Eco World Development Sdn Bhd in May via its 100%-owned subsidiary Eco World Sydney Development.

Liew, a long-time property supremo in Malaysia, has said in the past that his objective is to set a new benchmark in terms of concepts, ideas and designs for branding purposes, and judging from the market reception everywhere, the Eco World brand is doing just that.