ApartmentsVanessa CrollMon 22 Jun 26
Billbergia’s Rhodes Waterfront Push Grows Beside $3.2bn Masterplan
Billbergia has won approval to lift an under-construction Rhodes waterfront project to 401 apartments while its separate $3.2-billion masterplan next door moves through planning.
Approved this month by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), the consent applies to 25-27 Leeds Street, on Sydney’s Parramatta River about 16km west of the Sydney CBD.
The SJB-designed scheme adds 59 apartments to an already enlarged City of Canada Bay scheme, taking the approved project from 342 apartments to 401.
A broader $3.2-billion Rhodes Bay masterplan is progressing beside it, but remains a separate state-significant proposal.
Planning material shows 25-27 Leeds Street on the western edge of the wider Rhodes Bay renewal area, with later-stage land to the east and north-east.
The masterplan spans 3.1ha across Cavell Avenue, Averill Street and Leeds Street, with more than 1800 homes and 16,000sq m of public open space proposed.
By contrast, the approved Leeds Street project covers 11,692sq m and fronts Leeds Street, Blaxland Road and the Parramatta River.
Planning documents described the Leeds Street site as part of a light-industrial waterfront area.
Billbergia material said the wider masterplan would “open up previously privatised industrial land on the Parramatta River foreshore and return it to public access for the first time in more than a century”.
Billbergia first secured approval from the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel in August 2024 for a six-building Leeds Street project with 249 apartments and eight retail tenancies.
Works began on site in February of this year under the regional approval, with early works including demolition, tree removal, excavation and remediation.
By September last year, the department had approved a larger state-significant scheme on the same site, with six towers of 10 to 17 storeys and 342 apartments, including 58 affordable apartments.
The latest approval adds 59 apartments to the 342-apartment consent, taking the Leeds Street project 152 apartments above its first approved scheme.
Building E will gain three levels to reach 15 storeys, Building F will rise from 17 to 25 storeys, and Building B will have its upper floor plates expanded across levels 9 and 10 while retaining its approved height.
The project will now comprise 333 market apartments and 68 affordable apartments, with Evolve Housing remaining the community housing provider.
No extra car spaces were approved. The project retains 400 car parking spaces, including 358 residential spaces, 17 visitor spaces, 14 retail spaces, nine car-share spaces and two car-wash bays.
Billbergia secured the latest uplift through NSW’s infill affordable housing pathway, which allows height and floor space bonuses for projects with affordable housing.
The Leeds Street project provides 14.31 per cent of its residential floor space as affordable housing.
Clause 4.6 variation requests also supported departures for height, floor space, building separation, floor plate and apartment mix.
A 2022 design competition won by SJB with Land and Form helped carry the scheme through later approvals, with a Design Integrity Panel backing the amended form.
Extra yield is tied to a planning agreement for a pedestrian bridge over Walker Street, between Rhodes Central and Rhodes railway station.
Planning documents put the bridge cost at $10.5 million. The agreement allows Billbergia to offset contributions on up to 6525sq m of extra floor space, with further payments applying above the threshold.
Public exhibition drew 59 submissions, including 13 objections and 46 in support.
Objectors raised traffic, height, density, infrastructure, views and the Rhodes precinct housing cap. Supporters cited the bridge, supply, affordability and renewal.
Canada Bay raised no specific concerns on the latest application but asked the department to consider Leeds Street precinct objectives, including the transition of building heights towards the foreshore.
DPHI found the added height and floor space acceptable, citing the site’s location, affordable housing, public domain works, foreshore park, promenade and new seawall.
