Legacy’s Macquarie Park Tower Proposal Changes Again

An application for another iteration of a Macquarie Park mixed-use tower has been filed.

Developer Legacy Property is now seeking modifications to allow 21 storeys and 126 apartments.

The $118.5-million project at 14-16 Cottonwood Crescent, about 15km north-west of the Sydney CBD, was approved in 2018 for a 20-storey, 132-apartment tower.

In June 2023, Legacy sought to sell that DA-approved site, but a 2024 modification was approved for 19 storeys and 101 apartments. 

A gross floor area of 14,137sq m is proposed in the latest Rothelowman-designed rethink, up from 11,245sq m in previous versions. A resulting 5.66:1 floor space ratio is above the local control of 4.5:1, which earlier versions adhered to.

A height of 75.3m has been applied for, above the local control of 65m, and higher than the previous versions’ 67m. Private garages have been removed and communal car spaces have grown from 133 to 153. A carwash parking space has been added. 

Communal open space has been cut to 676sq m from the original 941sq m (while above the 2024 modification of 630sq m), and shifted to the rooftop. The pool and gym have been “replaced with quiet outdoor uses to suit market expectations and mitigate acoustic issues to adjacent apartments”.

Landscaped area, at 1091sq m, is reduced from the original proposal’s 1482sq m, and from the 2024 modification’s 1608.7sq m. Facades have been modified, to reduce embodied carbon.

▲ The 2018 approval for a 20-storey tower featured a different facade, smaller homes and more ground-floor retail.

Typologies have changed significantly over the project’s history, shifting towards larger homes. The original application was approved for 10 studios, 29 one-bedroom, 79 two-bedroom, and 14 three-bedroom units.

The most recent modification removes studios entirely, and instead proposes 20 one-bedroom, 44 two-bedroom, 60 three-bedroom, and two four-bedroom homes.

Nearby new developments have struggled to secure retail tenancies, due to competition with the Macquarie Centre shopping mall. As a result, the retail component of the project has been lopped to a single kiosk. Apartments have been reintroduced to the three-storey podium.

Meanwhile, the Legacy and Billbergia two-tower project at 15-21 Cottonwood Crescent, approved for 21 and 19 storeys, is seeking State-Significant Development upscaling to 60 storeys through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway. That site was acquired in 2017 for a record $80 million.