Amenity and space to grow key advantages for Penrith

Penrith’s advantages in the area of amenity and space were among the key take outs from a recent event for property and urban development professionals.

The In Focus: Penrith webinar hosted by The Urban Developer earlier this month sought to highlight the activity and opportunities across commercial, industrial and residential development in the City.

The event featured a range of speakers who are working in the area; including Penrith City Council’s Director of City Futures, Kylie Powell.

Ms Powell discussed Council’s vision for the Penrith to be a vibrant world class city with quality amenity. Ms Powell noted that “we think our point of difference really is around amenity and that’s something that we’re working very hard to build on”, Council’s own investment in Penrith’s CBD will boost amenity through projects such as City Park and Regatta Park.

Other speakers agreed, with Peter Clemesha, Executive Director at Avenor, arguing that Penrith has what businesses want for their employees: access to transport, good amenity, and a good lifestyle. Housing that offered amenity and proximity to a walkable liveable city was also a key driver for residential housing demand according to Andrew James, CEO of CABE, who is responsible for the East Side Quarter residential development in Penrith.

Ian Barter, General Manager Northern Region at Frasers Property Industrial, highlighted space to grow as one of the key attractions for businesses to come to Penrith. According to Mr Barter, with an undersupply of industrial space in Sydney, developments in Penrith such as the Mamre Industrial precinct, where Frasers Property has significant landholdings, are proving to be attractive to a range of businesses that are looking to expand in coming years.

The future Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is also proving advantageous to Penrith. As Ms Powell indicated, Penrith City will be the only city connected to the airport by rail on day one of operations, with three stations to be built in the City as part of the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport line. Mr Clemesha believes Penrith’s proximity to the airport will make it attractive to tourism operators and a range of airport related industries. Mr Barter noted the upgrades and investment into road and rail infrastructure that come with the airport are of keen interest to his customer base.

Image: Penrith's transport links, growing population and space to thrive were all topics of discussion at the In Focus: Penrith webinar