Meriton Files Six-Tower Plan for Sydney Super Site

Meriton Group is expecting demand to surge for apartment stock, lodging plans to build 629 units in Carlingford near Parramatta to cash-in on the changing market.

Australia’s largest residential developer lodged a development application for six mid-rise buildings after finalising the purchase of the 2.8ha site at 263 Pennant Hill Road, Carlingford.

Meriton managing director Harry Triguboff said demand for apartments was about to rise again, narrowing the record gap between houses and apartments.

The developer outlined two main reasons prices would rise drastically in 2022: commencements in attached dwellings dropped 15.8 per cent in the September quarter and overseas students, migrants and investors were due to return.

Triguboff said Meriton was now shifting the focus to larger apartments.

“We are now concentrating on bigger two- and three-bedroom units with car park because there is a big demand and very little supply,” he said.

The Carlington development had a mix of 112 one-, 355 two-, 147-three and 15-four bedroom apartments.

Set over three stages, the plans by Fender Katsalidis comprise six 10- to 12-storey buildings, a childcare facility and neighbourhood shops within the development.

There would also be 1146 car parks and three internal roadways along with public parkland replacing the remaining low-density residential dwellings on the site.

Part of the triangular site, which has frontage on Shirley Street, had a previous approval for five buildings with 450 units.

The sizeable 2.8ha site was listed by receivers after its owner, Dyldam Group, entered voluntary administration with more than $500 million in outstanding debt.

This month Meriton also lodged plans for a 30-storey residential tower at Oxford Street, Epping, near a new train station.

Nearby, the Carter Street development in Lidcombe is entering its final stage with plans for a 46- and 42-storey tower on a similar sized site to the Carlingford development.

The group also reported positive occupancy across its serviced apartments so far this year—the Gold Coast portfolio “exceeded all expectations” and was “especially strong” in Parramatta, Brisbane and Bondi Junction.