Redevelopment of Fairfield Forum proposed, 25-storey tower planned
One of the largest developments in Fairfield LGA has been proposed for a popular shopping centre in an effort to revitalise the city.
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Plans have been put forward to redevelop the 43,000 sqm site of Fairfield Forum to include a 25-storey tower, a shopping precinct and a large park.
The plans, cleared by Council’s outcome committee earlier this month, propose building a network of apartment towers both on-top and around the 17,600 sqm shopping centre. They would be home to 1489 units.
Offsetting the development will be a 4000 sqm public park located on the corner of Station St and Cunninghame St, and a paved public square offering alfresco dining and drinks.
The Fairfield Forum property was reportedly purchased for $32m by Harrington Property Group in 2013. Director Trevor Byles said a compromise had to be found between building a development and providing the community with a public utility.
“The vision is how do we reinvigorate and provide a bit of a face lift for our site,” he said.
“Fairfield town centre was identified as being short on open space. Fairfield Forum has the ability to provide a significant amount of open space.
“That’s our silver bullet if you like, a 4000 sqm park in the town centre. The ability for us to provide that is I think game changer for the town centre.
“(But) when you give away 10 per cent of the site, you’ve gotta make (the development) taller.”
The spine of Fairfield Forum would remain the same, though a section of the shopping centre would be relocated, Mr Byles said. There are plans to stage the development so that it remains open.
“You don’t want to close down a 17,000 sqm shopping centre for a period of time,” he said.
“We’re not looking to increase or decrease” the retail space.
About five apartment towers would be built on the site. The tallest 25-storey tower has been designed in consultation with Fairfield City Council to make sure its height wouldn’t affect the solar arrays of neighbouring buildings.
Surrounding it would be towers as high as 5-storeys on Ware St, 6-storeys on Station St and 8-storeys on Cunninghame St.
There would be 2919 car spaces for shoppers and residents. Fairfield City Council’s planning report noted this exceeded parking requirements, but the report did not note if this was basement parking.
In an urban design study adopted by Council last year, Fairfield Forum was identified as having the most potential to revitalise the city centre.
“It presents a range of design and land use opportunities,” the Fairfield City Centre Urban Design Study 2018 concluded.
“The site has an opportunity to achieve the dedication of significant open space for the benefit of the existing and emerging community.”
The two-level shopping centre was built in the 1980s and is arguably the most popular shopping centre in Fairfield. It has more than 50 shops, including Kmart, Coles and Aldi.
Its atypical design interrupts Ware St, an arterial road in Fairfield. The proposed development would see a roadway built to connect Ware St with Station St, turning a cul-de-sac into a road connection.
All up, with the park, market square, road and footpaths, it’s estimated 7900 sqm of space would be opened to the public.
The development is both years in the making and in an early stage of gestation. Although the site does not need to be rezoned for the proposal to go ahead, Fairfield City Council’s Outcome Committee did have to approve amendments to the building’s height and floor ratios.
Seven councillors voted unanimously to approve a height increase from 8-storeys (26m) to 25-storeys (82m) at September’s meeting. The vote came after the Fairfield Local Planning Panel supported the proposal.
The development will now proceed in the application pipeline to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, a process of review by the State Government. A timeline suggests the process – which includes bouts of public exhibition – won’t be finished until December 2020.
Mr Byles said he anticipates the process will take longer.
“Once you get approval from State Government, that’s probably 50/50, then it’s how we present that to the public,” he said.
“The biggest approval will be public exhibition with council and the council meeting post State Government review.”