Landcom,which is run by former Liberal leader John Brogden,signed a deal to buy the sprawling property at Wilton,about 80 kilometres south-west of central Sydney,from developer Bradcorp in June last year,and earmarked to be part of a satellite town by the agency.
The agency had refused to reveal the $257.5 million price tag – citing the confidentiality of the contract with Bradcorp – until this week following inquiries by theHerald.
The outlay will be in addition to $950 million the government expects to spend over coming years on roads and other infrastructure to support 5500 new homes on the land known as North Wilton.
The deal last June came a year after an independent valuation commissioned by Bradcorp estimated the property’s market value at $155 million.
Labor planning spokesman Adam Searle said the state government must explain why it paid $102 million more for the land than it was worth.
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“Paying tens of millions above the valuation raises serious questions about the transaction,” he said. “This has been a government that puts developer profits ahead of the needs of the community,and it looks like this is just another example.”
The valuation has emerged from Bradcorp’s unsuccessful legal action against Chinese property developer Country Garden – now known as Risland Australia – in 2019 over the land. Both sides disputed the land’s worth,with Country Garden’s valuation higher at $240 million.
Country Garden has also been embroiled in ICAC hearings into disgraced MP Daryl Maguire after recorded him talking about receiving commissions from the developer.
Landcom said it obtained two independent valuations for the Wilton land from Cushman and Wakefield and Lunney Watt in early 2020,and during the COVID-19 pandemic sought a revaluation to reflect its impacts,which resulted in an 8 per cent reduction in price.
“The purchase price of $257.5 million is well within the revised valuation. Landcom’s purchase price reflects the independent valuation of the market at the time of purchase,” it said.
The agency said its board and the government’s expenditure review committee approved the transaction,which “adhered to Landcom’s internal probity policies”.
Landcom said it would make staged payments for the land over eight years,and take ownership as parcels of it were developed over the life of the contract.
Bradcorp chief executive Peter Brennan said the 2019 valuation was based on a total payment upfront and on values at that time.
“Landcom’s contract involves payments over eight years which is reflected in the price,” he said. “On a like-for-like basis,the independent valuer ... considers the Landcom arrangement in the same range as his valuation,adjusted for 2021 pricing in the market.”
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said any decisions relating to property acquisition by Landcom were a matter for the agency.
The concerns about the Wilton purchase come after theHerald revealed in November that the state government three times as much as the Valuer-General’s estimate for highly contaminated land at Camellia,near Parramatta. The state government has since the Camellia land deal to the ICAC.
The federal government has also come under heavy criticism after it was revealed late last year that it bought 12.3 hectares of land known as the Leppington Triangle near Sydney’s new airport at Badgerys Creek for – 10 times its value 11 months later.
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