Will light rail improve the value of your Parramatta Road property?

If you own commercial property along Parramatta Road, you may have seen a recent article in The Sydney Morning Herald about the proposal to extend light rail along Parramatta and Victoria roads. What could this mean for your property?

In this article, we discuss the opportunities should this proposal be adopted by the NSW Government and local councils.

What is the Parramatta Road light rail proposal?

A consortium comprising Business Sydney, Business Western Sydney and the Housing Industry Association proposes to extend light rail along Parramatta Road and Victoria Road, demolish buildings they consider no longer offer value, and convert much of the reclaimed space for residential.

Values of properties close to light rail could rise

Research from across the globe into precincts with light rail has shown that property owners can, on average, expect a 7.1% premium if their properties are within 400 metres of light rail. The increase in values occurs from the announcement phase and rises slightly during the actual construction. While the research isn’t definitive, you could be comforted by developer confidence when purchasing near train stations or airports.

How would this proposal affect your Parramatta Road property?

This is hard to quantify. However, let’s assume that unmaintained and unleased properties would be fair game. You might receive an offer for your property or the NSW Government might ‘resume’ your property under compulsory acquisition. To ensure you’re getting value from your property, talk to us before making a decision should a developer come knocking.

Opportunities along Parramatta Road

To keep your property and continue to gain an income, it’s vital you keep it maintained and adapt it for multiple uses. We’ve mentioned already the value of adaptive reuse, whether it’s a warehouse or car park to offices or healthcare facilities in medical precincts or a boarding house or block of flats to student accommodation. Read more about adaptive reuse here.

If you own a service station or a car yard, you might consider installing charging stations in anticipation of the EV revolution. This option would be great if you sell a premium brand. Similar to how Apple operates its stores, you could become a destination – a community hub – and enable loyal customers to stay up to date with your vehicle offerings.

In addition, as customers using an EV charging station will need to be on your premises for at least 15 minutes, they’ll need to keep themselves occupied. There’s an opportunity for a café, general retail, even a small co-working space or some ‘hot desks’. You might also consider capitalising on the trend for online shopping and offer your premises as a pick-up point.

Shop tops will be winners

The addition of light rail plus more residential would help to revitalise Parramatta Road, with more pedestrians, greener spaces and less vehicular traffic. The real winners in our view? Shop tops. These types of premises already provide a dual income stream for owners, with exposure to both commercial and residential. You can read more about shop tops here.

Let us help you with your commercial property

As dedicated local commercial real estate agents, we can help you extract more value from your commercial property. Please get in touch to discuss your circumstances and assets so that we can give you personalised advice. Whether it’s commercial leasing, management or sales, we’re here to help you with your Sydney-based commercial property.

Contact us at Ray White Commercial Sydney City Fringe