Timberyards Wins Tick for Inner-Sydney BtR Precinct

The Timberyards project has won approval from the Independent Planning Commission for a precinct of 474 build-to-rent apartments, 115 affordable apartments and 577 co-living homes.

Proponent RTL Marrickville Property Trust, a vehicle of Scape co-founders Craig Carracher and Stephen Gaitanos, can now proceed with developing seven buildings from 5 to 14 storeys, with an estimated development cost of about $664 million.

A floor space ratio of 3.43:1 will yield gross floor area of 76,634sq m across the 2.2ha site. The 39 lots are bound by Victoria and Sydenham roads, and Farr and Mitchell streets, 7km west of the Sydney CBD and 800m from the Sydenham Metro Station.

The project will also deliver 1425sq m of retail space, 10,207sq m of public open space, and a creative hub for local artists. The 263 carparking spaces provided will be outnumbered by the 726 bicycle spaces.

A diverse design team including Aileen Sage, Architecture AND, Matthew Pullinger, Tribe Studio, Turner, Yerrabingin and Arcadia contributed to architecture and landscape across the project.

The economic impact assessment attached to the project, conducted by Ethos Urban, found that the surrounding area had higher and faster-growing proportions of professionals, renters, and single-person households compared with Sydney at large.

▲ A number of pocket parks and throughways will contribute to the 10,207sq m of public open space.

A rental housing precinct with diverse typologies such as the Timberyards would be suitable for that inner-city demographic, the study concluded.

IPC members Michael Chilcott, Juliet Grant and Suellen Fitzgerald agreed, stating in their reasons that the project “meets the needs of Inner West residents at various life stages and supports a range of household types”.

While the project began under the State-Significant Development pathway, it was automatically referred to the IPC when it received more than 50 public objections. 

▲ Height limits across the site will maximise FSR without interrupting flight paths.

An amendment to the Planning SEPP, made in October 2025, has since ended that automatic referral pathway.

The IPC is also permitting the proponent to shift height limits around the site. That adjustment will allow the project to achieve its FSR limit without breaching the airspace controls imposed by Sydney Airport, in relation to flight paths.

Conditions imposed by the IPC will require design changes and increased building separation at buildings D and G of the project. Ongoing management of carparking, and an accessible path from Victoria Street to Farr Street, are also mandated.

In part, those conditions protect the future development potential of a “corner site” at 9 Sydenham Road, 111-119 Sydenham Road, and 199 and 203 Victoria Road.

Under the conditions imposed, total yield has shrunk slightly, from the initially proposed 1181 to 1166 homes.