Anglicare All-Affordable Tower Leads Next Merrylands Surge

A $140-million state-significant scheme by Anglicare is leading another wave of development activity in Sydney’s Merrylands.

All 238 apartments on exhibition for the  37-storey scheme would be provided at under market rate, and would be joined by three levels of commercial and retail space.

The site at 215 and 229-239 Pitt Street is about 21km west of the Sydney CBD, 2.5km south of the Parramatta CBD and 400m from the Merrylands train station.

Under the proposal, the 2106sq m site would yield 23,271sq m of gross floor area at a floor space ratio of 11.05:1.

Residential GFA of 19,800sq m would be entirely dedicated to infill affordable housing, while the non-residential component would be allocated 3471sq m. Typologies would comprise 77 one, 125 two and 36 three-bedroom apartments.

Parking in four basement levels would include 185 car spaces, 159 bicycle spaces and nine motorcycle spaces.

▲ Anglicare's growing housing portfolio will focus on affordable housing for key workers, as well as aged care and emergency accommodation.

The Fuse Architects-designed project replaces a 2020 approval on the site. That 24-storey scheme included an 88-bed residential aged care facility and 98 independent living units.

In January, Anglicare Sydney group executive of housing (and former NSW planning minister) Rob Stokes told The Urban Developer that his goal was to grow beds under management from 700 to 4000.

Long-tenure accommodation for key workers, as well as aged care and emergency accommodation, is becoming a priority for Anglicare’s housing portfolio, Stokes said.

Meanwhile, just 300m away, the Cumberland City Council has approved a $51-million, 13-storey development at 171-173 Pitt Street.

▲ The Northland project will act as a gateway to the Merrylands CBD, according to the design report.

The project from Fred Nassif’s Northland Group will join its 194-apartment Central Quarter at 242-252 Pitt Street, which the builder-developer topped out in November 2025. 

The 104 apartments designed by D+R Architects will include 17 affordable and 21 adaptable units. The ground floor will include a retail tenancy and a 57-place childcare centre. Car parking in three basement levels will host 127 spaces.

The Northland Group developments are next to Aland’s $800-million masterplanned Gladstone Village, where staged work continues.

And 2km west of the development cluster around Merrylands station, SEARs have been requested for a Housing Delivery Authority-endorsed project at 3 Arcadia Street, Merrylands West.

▲ Derelict buildings would be demolished, but a heritage building retained for a childcare centre as part of the Dallad project.

Proponent Dallad is scoping an eight-storey, 120-unit scheme with an 111-place childcare centre, involving adaptive re-use of the heritage-listed former Council Chambers.

An estimated development cost of $60 million is attached, and a concurrent planning proposal would seek to increase the 4951sq m site’s FSR control from 1.2:1 to 2.32:1. While the HDA proposal applied for lower FSR, additional design work by PBD Architects revealed the need for greater uplift, according to the scoping report.

A 2019 approval for the site granted consent for 66 apartments, and a withdrawn application from 2025 sought 72 apartments and a 108-place childcare facility. Buildings currently on the site are unoccupied, some since the early 2000s, and are in fair to poor condition.