ApartmentsKirsten CrazeWed 14 Oct 26
Parramatta’s 320-Home BtR Plan Returns with 50pc of the Rent Cut
A revised 320-apartment build-to-rent proposal at Parramatta, with half the homes earmarked for affordable housing, is facing fresh public scrutiny over its scale and proximity to historic heritage sites.
Plans for Gregory Place at Harris Park, about 22km west of the Sydney CBD, have been substantially reworked since the original 483-home scheme was first exhibited in 2022.
The proposal, filed by proponent 2A Gregory Place, would deliver about 320 apartments across seven freestanding buildings ranging from two to eight storeys.
Half of the apartments would be leased as affordable housing at 80 per cent of market rent for at least 15 years, with the remainder offered as traditional build-to-rent homes.
The Independent Planning Commission is seeking community views on the controversial project, which has drawn local attention because of its previous scale and proximity to state and national heritage sites.
According to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s SSD amendment report, the proposal has also reduced total car parking from 634 to 359 spaces.
Local heritage concerns
The proposed Gregory Place development would neighbour the state heritage-listed Experiment Farm Cottage on Ruse Street, part of the Australia’s first convict land grant, which was made to James Ruse in 1789.
Also of historic significance, Hambledon Cottage, on the corner of Hassall Street and Gregory Place, was built for colonial entrepreneur John Macarthur in 1824, while nearby Elizabeth Farm, dating back to 1793, is home to the oldest surviving European building in the country.
A community petition has called for protection of the skyline, including the 1970s Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral on Alice Street.
The site, occupied by a 1950s factory and about 800m east of Parramatta Station and 650m north east of Harris Park Station, falls within the broader Parramatta Sand Body, a significant archaeological and cultural landscape associated with evidence of pre-colonial First Nation occupation.
The City of Parramatta Council was among objectors to the original 483-home proposal, raising concerns about flooding, built form, heritage and its relationship with the surrounding area.
Built-to-rent cluster grows
Gregory Place is just one of several major build-to-rent proposals and approvals in the planning or development pipeline across the Parramatta LGA.
Freecity has proposed a 618-unit, 40-storey build-to-rent tower at 1 Barrack Lane, Parramatta, including 235 apartments capable of being converted to dual-key arrangements.
The NSW Government has also expanded plans for the new Parramatta Metro station precinct to include a 43-storey, 470-unit built-to-rent tower alongside 500 student accommodation units.
In June, the most significant built-to-rent Parramatta project got the green light when Urban Property Group’s $400 million 2 Fitzwilliam Street mixed-use development with 713 build-to-rent units was approved under the fast-tracked SSD.
A growing build-to-rent pipeline across the LGA includes about 4700 BTR homes that are proposed, approved, or in the planning system as part of a much broader expansion of build-to-rent accommodation across the state.
The 2026-27 NSW Budget papers revealed that 9645 build-to-rent units are planned for construction across the state, while confirmed projects are expected to increase build-to-rent stock by 740 per cent to approximately 17,465 homes by 2032.
