Planning proposal lodged for 22-storey development above Castle Towers shopping centre

RESIDENTIAL or commercial development 22-storeys high could be built above Castle Towers under an ambitious proposal submitted to The Hills Shire Council.

RESIDENTIAL or commercial development 22-storeys high could be built above Castle Towers under an ambitious proposal submitted to The Hills Shire Council.

Developer Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) is seeking approval for the shopping centre to be identified as a “key site” with special planning provisions that would allow future mixed development including office premises and residential units up to 90m high above the ground.

Castle Towers set to become the country’s second biggest shopping centre

“There is likely to be strong demand for both commercial office and tourist and visitor accommodation within the Castle Hill town centre over the medium to long-term,” the report says.

The Piazza at Castle Towers shopping centre.

“The integration of non-retail land uses in the Castle Towers site over the longer-term . . . supports growth, sense of place and vitality of the Castle Hill town centre.”

The site is currently the subject of a major development application lodged in 2014 that, if approved, will see Castle Towers expand to become the biggest shopping centre in NSW.

The latest plan seeks to increase the building height of the centre to 42m and increase the permitted development density on the site.

3D modelling illustrations propose 68m high residential towers rising above the centre, taking the total height of the development to 90m.

The tallest building in Castle Hill is the under-construction Atmosphere Towers on Crane St, which will stand at 21 storeys when complete.

Inside Castle Towers, as it is today.

Castle Towers is excluded from the council’s Castle Hill North Precinct Plan, which proposed building heights ranging between 12 storeys and 20 storeys on land immediately to the west and north of the site.

But the proposal says “similar or greater heights are appropriate given the site’s closer proximity to the railway station”.

The development would be just 50m from the future Castle Hill railway station being built as part of the Sydney Metro Northwest.

There is also capacity for an underground pedestrian tunnel, linking the Towers to the station.

The report notes that the planning proposal, if approved, would not allow development to occur above the shopping centre.

A separate development application or development control plan would need to be prepared for the residential element of the site, addressing issues including vehicular access and environmental impacts.

The upgrade of Showground Rd to a dual carriageway is set to start early this year after it was delayed from its original start date mid last year to consider amended plans for Castle Towers.