O’Connell St, Parramatta: 69-storey tower dubbed western Sydney’s tallest approved

The fate of a multimillion-dollar plan for western Sydney’s tallest tower at a whopping 69-storeys high has been decided. Vote in our poll on whether you approve of the plans.

Plans for Parramatta’s tallest residential tower — which has been stuck in the planning system since 2017 — have been given the green light by the NSW Government.

The multimillion-dollar planning proposal for a 69-storey skyscraper at 2 O’Connell St, Parramatta was gazetted this month, with heights rivalling those of the Meriton residential towers at 180 George St of 66 storeys.

Final approval for the towering high-rise was issued on March 30, more than 1200 days after the development was submitted to the NSW Government and Parramatta Council for assessment.

Strata manager for 2 O’Connell St Shankar Vishwanath said the development committee was excited by the finalisation of the development.

“We have been working on this project for many years, so to finally have approval means all the hard work has paid off,” he said.

“What we have is a design proposal up to 69 storeys, meaning it would be the tallest tower in the Parramatta CBD.”

Mr Vishwanath said the development was “in the perfect location” due to its proximity to public transport, dining precincts and the Westfield shopping centre.

“This could be an iconic tower for the Parramatta CBD, and we have already seen major interest from developers looking to build the tower,” he said.

In May last year, following extensive public exhibition, council planners called for councillors to approve plans for development up to 217m, more than 6000sq m of commercial space and a massive 575 apartments at 2 O’Connell St.

Westfield Parramatta owners, Scentre Group, raised several issues witg the planning proposal, including consideration of public domain around Aird St, design and set backs.

While surrounding residents also raised concern around the “risk of structural damage to adjoining buildings from the construction of the proposal”.

However, council officers said reviews of structural integrity of surrounding buildings would be assessed.

“The existing Westfield car park entrance/exits and truck loading docks already create a lot of traffic congestion in the immediate area,” residents said in submissions. “An additional 455 apartments will make this significantly worse.”

A council planner also responded to concerns that the proposal would obstruct views from existing residential buildings.

“It is understood that many units within 15 Campbell Street benefit from extensive views due to the elevated topography of the site and the height of the building,” the planner said.

“The tallest tower within the proposal will likely obstruct views from the existing apartment buildings, particularly those from the north-facing units within 15 Campbell Street.

“The proposal will likely obstruct these existing views north towards Parramatta Park — it is inevitable that development undertaken in line with the Parramatta CBD Planning Proposal is likely to result in some view obstruction as a result of tower development.”