Cheers: $2bn CUB deal Sydney's largest

Frasers Property, part of one of Singapore's largest listed corporations, yesterday promised a start early next year on a mixed-use development that should take between six and eight years to complete with an expected end value of $2 billion.

The tally compares with $1.5 billion of private and public funds that were spent at Darling Harbour in the run-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Under a masterplan already approved for the Kent Brewery redevelopment site, previously owned by Foster's Group, Frasers will build more than 1600 residential apartments, including a serviced apartment hotel, and more than 90,000sqm of commercial and retail space.

The approval permits the development of 235,000sqm of floor space, made up of about 60 per cent residential apartments and 40 per cent commercial and retail areas.

Frasers Property CEO Dr Stanley Quek said yesterday there was already strong interest in office space to be built fronting Broadway.

The sale of the 5.8ha site to Frasers Property, foreshadowed by The Australian last month, followed a tender process run by Colliers International in which the Singapore group had been shortlised with Queensland-based funds management group Charter Hall.

Foster's closed the brewery in 2005 and had entered into an agreement to sell the site to Australand for $203 million, but the publicly listed group later withdrew, citing planning uncertainty and delays in the approvals process.

In June last year, the NSW Government took over planning control from Sydney City Council, with Planning Minister Frank Sartor later approving the current masterplan. Frasers' win doubles the size of its Australasian property portfolio to an end value of more than $4 billion and a supply pipeline of more than 5500 homes.

Despite the huge size of the CUB project, sources indicated yesterday that Frasers would go it alone, with no plans at least at this stage to sell off parts of the site or enter into joint ventures.

Although a relative newcomer to Australia, with most of its residential projects in Sydney, Frasers Australia is part of an international property group established in Singapore almost two decades ago with operations in China, Thailand, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Frasers Property is ultimately controlled by Fraser and Neave Ltd, one of Singapore's largest listed corporations, whose operations include property, food, beverages, publishing and printing.

Founded 124 years ago, Fraser and Neave has shareholders' funds in excess of $S5 billion ($3.9 billion) and assets of $S11 billion in operations spread across more than 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US.

Frasers' largest Australian project is the Foster & Partners Lumiere apartment tower, located alongside the Sydney Town Hall. The 456 apartments are expected to be completed early next year.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21895869-643,00.html