Octagon Gone Under Parramatta Highrise Plans

Investors are placing an each-way bet on office and build-to-rent with plans for two mammoth towers replacing The Octagon building in Parramatta.

Property investors RF CorVal submitted the plans with a $544-million capital investment value comprising 47-storey and 30-storey towers at 110 George Street, Parramatta.

The investors reportedly bought a part interest in the seven-storey Octagon office built in 1989 with a 21,082sq m net leasable area from Terraform Capital.

The Octagon sat within Terraform’s portfolio of notable Sydney buildings, including 171 Clarence Street, 400 Kent Street, 13a Union Street and 117 Harrington Street.

Originally the owners had planned an office building up to 120m and hotel of 72m approved in 2020, compared to the 168m and 133m towers in the latest Ethos Urban report.

The new skyscraper designed by Hassell would have ground floor retail, a three-storey podium with co-working spaces, and 397 build-to-rent apartments above.

▲ The 47-storey, build-to-rent tower overlooking the Parramatta River with the office tower peeking behind.

The smaller building would have 46,238sq m of commercial and retail space with a four-storey podium that would include a childcare centre.

There are also 252 carparking spaces, 659 bicycle spaces and associated end of trip facilities as well as rooftop terraces and landscaping by Arcadia under the scheme.

The residential tower would front Phillip Street while the commercial tower would face George Street with through site links on either side of the rectangular 7097sq m space.

▲ The Octagon was designed by acclaimed architect John Andrews who worked in Canada, the US and Australia on projects including the CN Tower in Toronto.

Hassell principal Tony Grist said the commercial and residential towers were designed to work together and activate the space between them with a neighbourhood square.

“One of our main objectives is to encourage pedestrian access to extend the structure of the city and provide greater connectivity to the river. It will be more open to the public,” Grist said.

“The site has been purposefully planned in two parts, with an access link running all the way through from George Street to Phillip Street alongside an option to diagonally move across the site through more public squares.”

▲ Renders of the front of the 110 George Street tower from the south (left) and the the build-to-rent tower with its pool atop the podium.

CorVal had another geometric office building—75 George Street, Parramatta, that it sold to Mirvac in January, 2018 for $86.3 million with a scheme for a 36-level tower on the site. The investor had purchased it in 2012 for $32 million.