Westfield Penrith Plaza: Rooftop bar, restaurant scrapped from $18m upgrade

The developers behind an $18m upgrade to a western Sydney Westfield have scrapped plans for a major component of the renovations. See what’s changed.

Development plans for Westfield Penrith Plaza have been amended to scrap the third floor with restaurant and rooftop bar. Picture: Scentre Group, GPT Group

The developers behind an $18m upgrade to a major western Sydney shopping hub have scrapped a major drawcard from the renovation.

Sydney developer GPT and Scentre Group, which owns and operates 42 Westfields, lodged plans for the upgrade to Westfield’s Penrith Plaza in April 2023, which were approved by Penrith City Council.

The renovations included five new restaurants across three levels and two new ‘LUX’ auditoriums for the existing Hoyts Cinema, promising “a premium dine-in cinema experience”.

Development plans for Westfield Penrith Plaza. The original proposal (pictured) included plans for a rooftop bar and restaurant, which has been removed in a modification request. Picture: Scentre Group, GPT Group

Of the five restaurants, three were set to join a host of other venues on Riley St, one was slated for the second level and a rooftop bar and restaurant were promised for the third level.

The renovations were tipped to establish Westfield as Penrith’s “leading entertainment and leisure precinct” while boosting the night time economy through “diverse entertainment and leisure offerings”.

However, the third floor with rooftop bar and restaurant has been scrapped after an application to modify the original plans was approved.

The modification request, lodged in December 2024 but not approved until March 4 2025, proposed to remove the third level from the application, increase the floorspace on the second level and introduce some minor architectural and internal layout changes.

Development documents show no change in the estimated costs between the two applications, despite the changes.

A Scentre Group spokeswoman said planning for future investment opportunities at the Westfield was ongoing.

“We are excited about our vision for the centre and will share further updates with our community as planning progresses,” she said.

This masthead also contacted GPT for comment.