Warringah Mall: Westfield reveals plans for 39-storey apartment tower
Westfield's owner has unveiled plans to build eight residential towers up to 39 storeys high at Warringah Mall, transforming Brookvale's skyline with 1500 new homes.
Apartment blocks up to 39-storeys could tower above Warringah Mall if a proposal for 1500 new homes is given the go-ahead by state planning authorities.
Scentre Group, owner of Westfield shopping centres, has revealed its detailed plans to add up to eight multistorey residential buildings to its Brookvale site.
It has also released a proposal to create a new town square near the current B-line stop on Pittwater Rd.
The group has already been successful, in March, in its bid to have the proposed redevelopment of the mall declared a State Significant Development.
Now it has released a draft masterplan while a detailed environmental impact statement is now being prepared. A separate Planning Proposal has been lodged to rezone the site to allow apartment buildings.
Stage one of the proposed development would include a 34-storey residential tower at the northern end of the site that would include a 5-storey podium accommodating retail, food and beverage outlets as well as “community uses”.
It would be built where a Bunnings Warehouse and medical centre now sit.
The first stage would also include a 19-storey residential tower, proposed for a site near Aldi.
This proposal sits alongside Northern Beaches Council’s Brookvale Structure Plan (BSP), drawn up to guide development in the suburb for the next 15 years. It allows for apartment blocks up to 15-storeys high next to the mall, eight-storey buildings along Pittwater Rd — north of the B-Line bus stop — and a new town square carved out of the existing Bunnings Warehouse site.
Scentre Group has been in talks with the council about how they can work together.
In a scoping study, a planning consultant for Scentre Group stated that “the BSP vision is highly dependent on the ability of Scentre to execute, given that the Warringah Mall site is the proposed future urban centre of Brookvale … the reality is that significantly more housing and associated development density is required to deliver the public benefit expectations”.
Scentre Group has proposed to have eight apartment blocks with a total of 1500 units.
Four blocks would be on the eastern edge, along Condamine St and Pittwater Rd. Two would go to the north of the mall, towards Cross St.
There would be two “gateway” blocks, on the corner of Old Pittwater Rd and Condamine St as well as opposite Northern Beaches TAFE College.
This would result in the removal of the medical centre, Bunnings, Super Cheap Auto, a gym and 450 parking spots.
But a civic plaza or town square would be “designed for entertainment and events, serving as a primary route from the (bus stop) to Warringah Mall, and featuring play areas for all ages”.
A “High St” element would become a “dynamic thoroughfare accommodating pedestrians, vehicles, and active transport with active frontages, extended hours of activation, local food and beverage offerings, and diverse dining experiences,” according to the scoping report.
Scentre Group CEO, Elliott Rusanow said in a statement that given its portfolio of “strategic land holdings, we have the ability to significantly contribute to residential housing supply at our locations across Australia”.
“At Westfield Warringah, we have been collaboratively participating in state and local planning processes to potentially add housing. We look forward to continuing our work with all stakeholders on the future of Westfield Warringah,” he said,
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Originally published as Warringah Mall: Westfield reveals plans for 39-storey apartment tower
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