Final two Parramatta Square office towers approved

Take a walk through one of the soon-to-be opened towers inside the $2.7 billion Parramatta Square project. The square is taking shape after the final buildings were given the nod of approval.

• Labor to axe Powerhouse Museum move to Parramatta if elected
• How did a Parramatta road sign end up 14,000km away?

The final pieces of a $2.7 billion Parramatta makeover to rival Sydney’s best have been given the green light as construction ramps up on one of Australia’s biggest urban renewal projects.

The Sydney Central City Planning Panel has approved two 50-storey combined buildings, which will be known as towers 6 and 8, collectively housing 12,500 workers in the “game-changing” Parramatta Square project.

The four Parramatta Square buildings will be a feature of the CBD skyline.

It comes a year after plans for an 88-storey ‘Aspire’ building — once touted to become Australia’s tallest residential tower ­— were scrapped in late 2017 after Parramatta Council rezoned it to commercial.

Walker Corporation’s other buildings at Parramatta Square, towers 3 and 4, are now well into construction and expected to accommodate 10,000 jobs for anchor tenants including National Australia Bank and Property NSW.

Walker Corporation chairman Lang Walker said the project would help transform Parramatta into one of the nation’s best CBDs.

The 250m-long public domain in the Parramatta Square redevelopment.

“(It) will see Parramatta city rival Sydney’s CBD,” he said. “Parramatta Square presents us with an unrivalled opportunity to capitalise on the strength of the Parramatta office market.

“It has the lowest vacancy rate of any office market in Australia, and we are securing major government and private sector tenants like NAB.”

The Advertiser had an exclusive site tour last week of tower 4, where 250 workers are making giant inroads into getting the 40-storey building finished by November, two years after the project kicked off.

OLD HOME TO BECOME MAJOR RENO PROJECT

HOW A SYDNEY ROAD SIGN ENDED UP 14,000KM AWAY

WHAT TO DO FOR AUSTRALIA DAY CELEBRATIONS

The third floor is being fitted out in preparation for Property NSW workers moving in before Christmas.

And next door, earthmoving works are already under way to prepare for the construction of towers 6 and 8.

They are part of a massive project which will remodel the heart of Parramatta with 290,000sq m of office space across four buildings on a 4ha site adjoining Parramatta Station.

The public domain at the base of Tower in Parramatta Square.

As well as the university campus and commercial buildings, the mixed-use precinct includes retail, community facilities, a civic building, community centre, library and a 250m-long public domain.

There will also be a rebuild of Darcy Street’s roadway, kerb and footpaths, and new landscaping.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson said his Sydney counterpart, Clover Moore, should be “quaking in her boots” by the prospect of this radical facelift, which is part of an $8 billion infrastructure investment in the city over the next four years.

Plans for the final two towers in the $2.7b Parramatta Square project have been approved.

“Instead of people heading into Sydney CBD, they’ll now stop in Parramatta. It means Parramatta will be a great place to work and play,” he said.

Western Sydney Business Chamber director David Borger said Parramatta Square was “one great big lump of hope” for the west.

“It’s a massive game-changer and will bring a heap of new people to suburbs right across western Sydney,” Mr Borger said.