The new developments set to transform NSW suburbs and skylines
Changing skylines and the creation of new town centres and housing precincts are among plans to shape the future of NSW. See 25 game changing plans that are making a move in 2022.
Local
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Development confidence is continuing to get back on track across NSW as focus shifts to skylines and much needed new housing.
While 2021 saw billions dedicated to on revitalising Sydney and Parramatta with exciting new projects, including Sydney’s Silicon Valley and a new skyline for the iconic Darling Harbour, 2022 has seen a move towards more housing precincts and the creation of town centres.
The year kicked off with a proposed 45 storey skyscraper for Homebush, followed by housing precincts across Sydney and much needed progress some of our regional areas such as the Central Coast and Mid North Coast.
Some come with controversy, while others will make jaws drop. Check out 25 new developments that will transform NSW.
HOMEBUSH
The year kicked off with plans revealed for a 45-storey skyscraper at a Sydney Olympic Park carpark.
A $220m State Significant Development application was lodged for the towering skyscraper filled with hundreds of serviced apartments, 12-storey commercial complex and a five-storey pavilion on Australia Ave.
Ecove Group are planning the construction of as many as 464 apartment rooms and strata suites as part of the 45-storey structure, alongside a series of retail, commercial and registered club spaces.
As many as 726 carparking spaces would be developed across six basement levels.
the planner said.
CASTLE HILL
Castle Hill has been earmarked for yet another mega residential development.
Seven residential towers, valued at $300 million, will soon be part of the suburb’s rapidly transforming skyline.
Construction is set to begin on KWG Australia’s “Castle Island”. The Sexton Ave site is located in the Castle Hill Showground, an area transforming into a high-density residential and urban hub.
Castle Island will feature 295 apartments split across seven residential towers.
“It wasn’t ever about squeezing in as many apartments as possible, it’s about creating an actual community,” Ray White Projects managing partner Eddie Mansour said.
The precinct will also feature a function area, a library with work-from-home pods, a gym, a cinema and three separate rooftop areas.
EASTERN SYDNEY
Randwick Council announced plans to build five major housing precincts across eastern Sydney.
The new precincts proposed in North Kensington, Randwick and Kingsford South would create an extra 574 new homes and be made possible with changes to zoning, height and density rules.
As part of the plans, council is looking to increase the maximum development height of each area by between five and eight storeys.
Randwick Council Mayor Dylan Parker said the proposed increase in dwellings is to ensure it can meet the NSW Government’s mandated target of about 4,464 new homes in six to 10 years.
PENRITH
A $187 million development at Penrith Panthers Leagues Club could see the dramatic expansion of residential apartments for Sydney’s western suburbs.
The fourth and fifth stages of the East Side Quarter residential precinct at Mulgoa Rd includes construction of four towers ranging from five to 13-storeys high, as well as 335 additional apartments.
The plans were submitted to Penrith Council in June as part of East Side Quarter’s ambitious residential village plan for the Panthers entertainment precinct.
Planners for the project said as many as 20 retail outlets and 753 parking spaces will be built as part of the development.
“The proposal will support the Penrith Panthers Precinct to provide a vibrant
entertainment, leisure, lifestyle and sporting precinct while providing new workplace,
day and night entertainment, food and beverage opportunities, conferencing and
accommodation,” the planner said. “Development will also maximise pedestrian activities around the lakeside promenade and within the planned through-site link by retail premises
including food and drink premises with outdoor dining spaces.”
BLACKTOWN
A multimillion dollar health and education precinct has been earmarked to transform Sydney’s west, featuring a private hospital, aged care hub, apartments and shopfronts.
Blacktown Council have completed masterplans to transform land surrounding Blacktown Hospital from a residential area to a “higher density, mixed use” precinct featuring residential apartments, hospital services, medical practices, assisted living, aged care, as well as cafes, carparking facilities and shopfronts.
A private hospital has also been earmarked in the masterplan to be built next to the existing Blacktown Hospital site in an effort to meet future population growth.
“The Precinct is a key Transformation Project for Blacktown City,” a planner for the major project said. “It will provide space for health and allied health development and allow the expansion of health and allied services to meet the demand of the growing population.”
Planners said the project would see buildings ranging from five to 10-storeys in height.
In March, a NSW Planning director issued the project a Gateway Determination.
MERRYLANDS
Five towering high-rise apartment buildings up to 28 storeys high could change the western Sydney skyline.
Coronation Property received gateway approval after submitted plans for 863 apartments on Merrylands Rd and McFarlane St, Merrylands, to Cumberland Council.
“The planning proposal will result in additional housing supply and jobs growth around the Merrylands town centre and within close proximity to Merrylands train station,” a planner for the project said.
“Given the site is situated adjacent to Stocklands shopping centre Merrylands, it is considered that the provision of additional commercial space would result in an oversupply of commercial space within the locality, which would have a negative economic impact on the existing commercial area within Stocklands shopping centre.
“Allowing the site to provide additional residential accommodation would result in a better social and economic outcome.”
HORNSBY
Hornsby RSL is looking at a massive expansion into 12 storey buildings to include a hotel and seniors living.
The RSL has revealed a planning proposal to boost the size of the current venue, along with creating a new 114-room hotel, 164 residential units, and a six storey seniors housing development with 110 apartments.
The development would take in the main club building along with six vacant lots on Ashley St – currently used as a Covid-19 testing clinic – and a further two properties on Webb Ave.
Plans stated the development would support housing targets for the area, as well as meeting a demand for seniors housing in the community.
MID NORTH COAST
The state’s Mid North Coast has been earmarked for a new town centre with thousands of new homes under a State Government plan.
The North Tuncurry Urban Release Area proposal looks to rezone 615ha of Crown Land over the next two decades.
The Department of Planning and Environment’s Malcolm McDonald said the NSW Government is planning to change local planning rules to pave the way for the new township.
“Over the next 20 years, this development is expected to create around 2,000 construction jobs which would support a further 2,000 jobs in the community during this time,” the executive director of local and regional planning said.
“Once completed, it would also provide 4,500 future residents with a place to call home and 126 new ongoing jobs when the town centre is finished.”
CAMPBELLTOWN
Campbelltown Hospital’s 12-storey building – the centrepiece of the $632 million Stage 2 redevelopment – was completed in May.
The new building will help service the more than 130,000 new residents expected to call the Macarthur region home over the next decade. It will boost bed capacity across the hospital by more than 50 per cent as well as deliver a raft of new and expanded health services for patients.
It has a new maternity unit, increased medical and surgical services, expanded kids’ services, as well as significantly increased mental health services.
“This major investment in Campbelltown Hospital is strengthening our frontline services to deliver better services sooner and closer to home,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.
“The NSW Government is delivering major projects across southwest and Western Sydney to make these communities an even better place to live, work, play and raise a family.”
TUGGERAH
It was biggest announcement for the Central Coast – $2.8 billion to transform Tuggerah.
The 35-year vision has finally taken its initial steps with a planning proposal to be prepared by Central Coast Council.
The Scentre Group’s 35-year vision is for 5000 new homes, a new Westfield shopping precinct, 10,000 jobs and more than 70ha of land harnessed.
Concept plans revealed new homes and units, medium to high rise residential blocks, a seniors living facility, an outdoor adventure park, as well as an education precinct with a new primary school.
The current carpark at the front of Westfield would eventually be turned into residential, retail and commercial blocks, as well as hotels and serviced apartments.
Once completed, the council’s planning proposal for the 42 hectare site will be sent to NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts for “gateway determination”.
TARAGO
The NSW government is forging ahead with plans to build an incinerator in the rural town of Tarago in the Southern Tablelands despite community opposition.
The $600 million waste-to-energy proposal by environment solutions company Veolia is a state-significant project that would be capable of burning 710,000 tonnes of waste from Sydney each year.
Locals are concerned about the plant’s effect on the environment, and their health, however have been given no hope that it’s going anywhere from NSW Minister of Environment and Heritage James Griffin.
“The NSW Government appreciates the community’s interest in energy from waste development and is working to ensure that the sector is managed in a safe and responsible manner as NSW transitions to a circular economy,” he said in a response to a petition from the community.
Four regional areas including the Southern Goulburn-Mulwaree Precinct have been earmarked for the controversial plants.
NORWEST
A $1 billion masterplan to alter north west Sydney’s skyline is one step closer.
Developer Sekisui House has lodged $256m plans for phase four of The Orchards Norwest — a residential hub with 1300 new homes.
The plans are aimed at playing a key role in the rapid urbanisation of Sydney’s north west, as Norwest transforms into a high-density residential suburb.
Phase four’s 21,528 sqm site is located off Lucinda Ave and Spurway Drive and includes six residential buildings, ranging from three to 19 storeys in height with 583 apartments.
“(This residential density) is sustained by the existing Norwest town centre … public transport, access to jobs, community facilities and the surrounding natural environment,” planning documents state.
The plans by Sekisui House for 1300 new homes, to be built across five stages and split between ten buildings, were approved in 2018.
NEUTRAL BAY
A shopping, unit and recreation hub is on the cards for Neutral Bay.
Supermarket giant Woolworths has lodged plans to bulldoze its Ranger Rd supermarket to make way for three new buildings up to 10 storeys tall in a move the company said would provide a new shopping destination and “active” town centre.
Fabcot, the development arm of Woolworths, has lodged plans that include a new full-line 3,311sq m supermarket on the basement level, retail and commercial uses on the ground floor, 91 units on upper levels of the buildings and a rooftop garden area with a pool.
There would also be a new pedestrian arcade, public plaza with outdoor dining, children’s play areas, and basement parking with 350 spaces.
A total of $6.6m in “public benefits” are included in the plans including water fountains, outdoor seating, a market square, lawn areas and hanging gardens.
It would also be aimed at boosting night time activity in the town centre with the water feature able to be transformed into a band stage for live performance to animate the space
after dark.
Plans says the development would create 288 direct jobs and boost the local economy by $12m per year.
MACQUARIE PARK
New plans have emerged to build the tallest building in Sydney’s north.
The $368m development by Meriton is set to change the face of the Macquarie Park skyline with three towers up to 59 storeys tall overlooking the M2 motorway, Macquarie University and Macquarie Centre.
Plans show the development on Talavera Rd would have 1072 units split across the three buildings standing 36, 45 and 59 storeys tall.
The tallest of the three towers would surpass the height of every skyscraper north of the harbour bridge, including the suburbs of Chatswood, St Leonards and North Sydney.
Other plans for the site include a 120-space childcare centre, retail tenancies, a restaurant, gym and basement carparking with 1256 spaces.
Meriton say the project would address population growth in Sydney’s north which requires 92,000 more homes to be built by 2036.
However the plans, which are still being assessed, have come under fire from Ryde’s mayor Jordan Lane.
PENRITH
Earlier this year plans were revealed for a new 11-storey tower as part of the Nepean Hospital expansion.
The $450m plans feature a state-of-the-art intensive care and close observation unit, paediatric facilities, clinical support and education and training centre.
This will be the stage two redevelopment of Penrith’s Nepean Hospital which will see a new tower connected to the recently-completed stage one tower.
Planners for the Health infrastructure project said the proposal will also see the inclusion of new medical imaging facilities, radiology, as well as a new dialysis and renal inpatient unit.
The new plans came just months after the completion of the 14-storey, $576 million stage one tower.
FRENCHS FOREST
The creation of a new Frenchs Forest town centre is in the pipeline.
The NSW Government is transforming the centre of Frenchs Forest, just west of the Northern Beaches Hospital.
Plans include a new commercial strip, apartment blocks up to 12 storeys high as well as new roads and intersections, the widening of existing roads, more public open space including a 1665sq m piazza, and bigger parks.
The “Frenchs Forest Place Strategy 2041”, which includes 5360 new homes, was given the NSW Government tick of approval just before Christmas 2021.
It is the first phase of a three-stage redevelopment — designed to incorporate the Northern Beaches Hospital precinct into the suburb — to be rolled out over the next 20 years.
Phase one includes 1000 new medium and high density dwellings in the new town centre — based around the site of the current The Forest High School — and another 1000 homes in nearby residential areas.
Compulsory acquisitions were recently revealed by the Manly Daily.
CABRAMATTA
2022 has also seen renewed plans to reinvigorate Cabramatta CBD.
Fairfield Council revealed plans for a series of high-rise commercial and residential towers – up to 19 storeys high – an open market space, hotel, church and daycare centre.
The major planning proposal is for the Cabramatta Town Centre East which could see as many as 582 homes built.
The proposal for the site at Fisher and Broomfield streets and Cabramatta Rd East, Cabramatta would see the redevelopment of 22 private properties across 12,000sq m of space.
Under the plans, more than 5700sq m would be dedicated to retail, while a further 7000sq m would be designed for commercial use.
CAMPSIE
A $100 million plan to build an expansive 11 storey private hospital in Sydney’s southwest was revealed in April.
Developers of the proposed 218-bed facility, dubbed Campsie Private Hospital, earmarked the multimillion-dollar masterplan for 445 Canterbury Road with Canterbury-Bankstown Council and the NSW Planning Department.
The planning proposal includes more than 1000 full time jobs, as well as 600 construction and supplier roles.
Planners said the project aimed to support the development of at least 7000 jobs in Campsie Strategic Centre by 2036, while also working to “strengthen links to Canterbury Hospital and surrounding allied health services”.
The hospital would also help with the increasing demand for health services.
GOSFORD
Gosford is making it’s return and the three tower Central Coast Quarter development is in a prime location.
St Hillers plans are to transform the southern end of Mann St into a “hotel/entertainment destination”.
Plans include 295 residential apartments, 183-room hotel along with commercial and retail space and connected pedestrian links.
Construction is set to start on the first tower of the project. The $115m northern tower, known as “The Waterfront”, was given final approval in April by NSW Planning.
The 25 storey tower includes 136 apartments and 621 sqm of ground-floor retail space.
St Hilliers Development Director Justyn Ng says the project was significant for the local area, expected to create 105 construction jobs and 21 operational jobs when complete.
“We are delighted with this approval as it enables us to make an important contribution to Gosford with high-quality housing, many new job opportunities and some great improvements to the local area for the benefit of the whole community,” he said.
NORWEST
Earlier this year, plans were revealed for a billion-dollar development in Sydney’s northwest.
The masterplan, planned for the Norwest Business Park in The Hills, outlines the creation of a ‘green village’ with more than 860 apartments, a massive commercial hub and bustling cafe and dining precincts.
Developer Mulpha Norwest plans to transform over 3.8ha of greenfield land into a vibrant village centre for more than 2000 residents.
Mulpha head of development, Tim Spencer, told The Hills Shire Times the development, dubbed Norwest Quarter, would be “zero carbon”, and is expected to include a gym, fresh food grocer, medical centre, and restaurants.
Nine residential towers are planned for the precinct, alongside cafes, restaurants, shops and childcare facilities.
SHELL COVE
It’s always a good sign when a Crowne Plaza moves in.
Illawarra is set to reap the benefits with Crowne Plaza Shell Cove Marina in the pipeline.
Shell Cove Harbour is the chosen location for a 181 room luxurious waterfront hotel by IHG Hotels & Resorts.
Crowne Plaza Shell Cove Marinz is scheduled to open in 2025 and will join IHG’s extensive portfolio of more than 100 hotels and resorts throughout Australasia which includes hotels in Darling Harbour, Coogee Beach and the Melbourne CBD.
managing director of IHG Australasia & Pacific Matt Tripolone said the hotel will be targeted toward the corporate sector as well as holiday-makers looking for a south coast retreat.
“We’re thrilled to be extending our reach across regional NSW with the addition of this stylish, design-forward hotel on the NSW south coast, highlighting the increasing demand for contemporary new hotels in regional NSW,” Mr Tripolone said.
“It will feature all the hallmarks business travellers want from a hotel. Leisure travellers will also undoubtedly enjoy the prime coastal location and wonderful leisure amenity.”
WAGGA WAGGA
It may be 400km from the coastline but the opening of the Wagga Wagga’s beach was cause for celebration in June.
Stage two of Wagga Beach – on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River – has officially opened.
The $9.9 million project includes a state-of-the-art playground with a new auditorium and will be a great location for festivals, food trucks, markets and more.
Mayor Dallas Tout said he hoped the precinct would be great for locals and tourists alike.
“It was all worth it, the efforts put in by everyone in this project was great and the precinct provides a perfect balance of active space and peace and quiet relaxation which is important,” he said.
“It has been in council’s grand plans and to see it finally finished is so great for the community.”
MORISSET
Multimillion plans to transform Morisset Country Club golf club into an A-list entertainment venue is underway.
Crowds of up to 30,000 can expect to be wowed by international and national stars once the redevelopment is complete.
The plans were approved in February and will also include a tourist park, outdoor gardens, cafe, restaurants, splash park and other recreation areas.
Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser said it is extremely exciting for Morisset.
“It’s a construction of an iconic stage structure and it will create a unique proposition to Australian promoters and international acts,” she said.
“Any of those big star names that we see now coming to Sydney, any one of those will be coming here to Morisset.”
LEPPINGTON
A $34 million, 93-dwelling subdivision is being planned for the growing corridor of Leppington in Sydney’s southwest.
Plans include 85 townhouses and eight studios for 1382-1384 and 1402 Camden Valley Way, 70 lots listed as single dwellings, seven lots with three dwellings each, and one lot featuring its own studio with the rest remaining vacant for future construction.
The smallest single lots are sized at 125 sqm, while the largest single townhouses are sized at 224 sqm.
Already one of the fastest growing areas in the southwest, Leppington has had its own train station built, along with community centres, schools, and upgrades to Camden Valley Way, where the subdivision is planned.
That all occurred under stage one of the rezoning plan, taking place from November 2015.
MACQUARIE PARK
Stockland has plans in the wings for a $507m business park for Macquarie Park.
Major plans have been lodged for a massive commercial, retail and tech hub which will include a futuristic data centre, an ‘eat street’ dining area and bike paths.
Developers say it could create more than 11,500 jobs.
Six buildings standing up to 13 storeys tall would be built on a 4ha site with plans also including new offices, retail buildings, restaurants and a futuristic five storey data centre which would be used to store online data and information in the ‘cloud’.
The application has been lodged to Ryde Council and is expected to be referred to the Sydney North Planning Panel.
Join the conversation
Highlight machines: Top moments of the 2024 Koori Knockout
The Koori Knockout provided a number of incredible highlights to remember from the four-day footy extravaganza in Bathurst. We look at our 15 top moments from the weekend.
Read more
Latrell brilliance guides Walgett to back-to-back Koori Knockout wins
Walgett boasted a star studded side with a former Dally M winner, but it’s an incoming Brisbane Broncos recruit that made the most noise as WAC made it back-to-back Koori Knockout wins.
Read more