Land and Environment Court rejects Jean Nassif-led company’s Parramatta skyscraper proposal

A company headed up by fugitive developer Jean Nassif has lost a long-running planning battle, with a court describing its proposed Parramatta twin towers as “excessively dominant and imposing”.

A company headed up by fugitive developer Jean Nassif has lost a long-running legal battle to build twin towers in Parramatta’s CBD.

The Land and Environment Court has thrown out an appeal against the refusal of a development application proposing to build two skyscrapers — 47 and 38 storeys tall — on top of a current seven-storey podium building on Macquarie St in Parramatta.

The $212m development proposed a total of 708 units, making it one of the largest developments proposed for Parramatta and big enough to house more people than some entire NSW suburbs.

The appeal was lodged by JKN Para Pty Ltd, which was placed in external administration this year after the company’s sole director, Jean Nassif, fled Australia with a warrant out for his arrest over fraud allegations.

The appeal against Parramatta Council argued the twin-tower development was in line with a council masterplan for the site, which already included the construction of the seven-storey podium on the site.

A concept image of the rejected twin tower development at 189 Macquarie St, Parramatta.

But Parramatta Council fought the development, arguing the scale of the building did not “exhibit design excellence”.

The council further argued some units lacked adequate air ventilation, and that the “poor orientation” of the building would result in up to 30 per cent of apartments lacking adequate sunlight during winter months.

The proposed skyscrapers also generated public submissions from residents over impacts including loss of privacy, overshadowing, traffic congestion, noise, wind impacts and concerns the development would dominate the skyline and lead to an “oversupply of residential accommodation” in Parramatta.

The towers would have housed more than 700 units.

Developer Jean Nassif has been spotted in Lebanon after leaving Australia.

During the legal case, JKN Para Pty Ltd argued the height of the buildings was consistent with the 167m height limit for the site and that the design was based on a “design excellence competition”.

The company also submitted that “whether the development displayed design excellence is a matter which ultimately is highly subjective” and that the twin tower development did not have to be an “exemplar” of design excellence in order for it to be approved.

On Friday, the Land and Environment Court rejected the appeal, finding the “proposal presented as two excessively dominant and imposing building forms”.

ASIC records show Jean Nassif is the sole director of JKN Para Pty Ltd.

The court ruling also found a percentage of apartments would not achieve a “living environment with good internal amenity”, including access to sunlight.

The podium previously made headlines in 2017, when Parramatta Council ordered works to stop after basement levels were built without council consent and without being waterproofed.

As previously reported by The Daily Telegraph, Nassif fled the country in December 2022.

In April this year, he was spotted smoking a cigar at a casino in Lebanon.

As of August last year, at least nine Sydney unit complexes built by Nassif’s development arms had been issued separate rectification orders to fix defects.

DVT Group – the external administrator appointed to JKN Para Pty Ltd – declined to comment on Friday’s Land and Environment Court judgment.