Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a Canadian private equity giant, is formally placing its US$175 million commerical building in Sydney's Parramatta up for sale.

The building located in the Parramatta district is currently rented by government-owned Sydney Water. The building was constructed for the agency four years ago, just when Sydney water moved out from the its former central business district head office in Bathurst Street. Sydney Water's former headquarters is currently set aside for an upcoming residential development by Greenland, a Chinese real estate firm.

The announcement comes after Brookfield Asset Management walked away from acquisition talks with Brisbane-based Cromwell. The deal would have allowed Brookfield Asset Management to offload commercial real estate worth around US$1 billion throughout New Zealand and Australia to Cromwell.

Two years ago, there were rumours that Real IS, a German fund manager, was interested in acquiring the Parramatta Sydney Water head office. Real IS wanted boost its Australian holdings. The deal never materialized.

Brookfield Asset Management presently holds around 300 commercial real estate properties around the world.