Billbergia Greenlit for Slender 48-Storey Rhodes Highrise

Billbergia’s latest Rhodes project, which took advantage of the new expedited State Significant Development pathway, has been approved. Lodged in August of 2024, the approval of the 48-storey tower, which will add 313 apartments to the Inner West Sydney suburb, took just seven months to be greenlit. Billbergia’s slender tower will sit on a 1537sq m site, replacing a four-storey commercial block and single-storey retail building. The site at 9 Blaxland Road and 424 Concord Road is in the City of Canada Bay local government area. The council was in favour of the project initially and submitted an objection, but retracted it in November, 2024 after Billbergia dealt with issues relating to operational waste management and communal space provisions. The development will deliver a mix of studio to five-bedroom market and affordable apartments, the latter a condition of the State Significant Development pathway that prioritises projects offering affordable housing. Of the 32,093sq m gross floor area (GFA), 30,753sq m will be residential GFA and 1339sq m non-residential. Of the residential floor area, 4821sq m, 15 per cent, will be for affordable housing. ▲ A rendering of the Billbergia Rhodes tower. It also includes 12 levels of parking for 257 cars. The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure determined that the project was acceptable given that it supported a diversity of market and affordable housing. The affordable component will be be managed by a registered community housing provider for a minimum of 15 years. It said the Rhodes tower was compatible with the existing and surrounding development within the suburb, “providing a tall, slender tower that aligns with the strategic vision for the site area under the Rhodes Place Strategy 2021”. Affordable housing does not usually sit within Billbergia’s wheelhouse given its focus on higher-end market accommodation, such as its 80-storey Sydney CBD debut filed this year , however, the new pathways and amendments to the Housing SEPP may change that. ▲ Group GSA has designed the 48-storey tower. In December of 2023, the department introduced the new pathway for residential development with an estimated development cost of more than $75 million inside the Greater Sydney area and $30 million outside that area. Billbergia has estimated a $263-million cost for the Rhodes tower. The suburb is among its “highrise havens”. Under the new pathway, projects must include at least 10 per cent affordable housing, aimed at supporting the delivery “of well-located affordable and market housing”. It is one of a series of policy amendments, such as infill affordable housing provisions , intended to help NSW achieve its “aspirational target” of 377,000 homes over the next five years as part of its segment of the national Housing Accord.

Billbergia Greenlit for Slender 48-Storey Rhodes Highrise

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