Forestville RSL Club in Line for $77m Modern Remix

A typical suburban bowls and RSL club would be knocked down to make way for a new venue and seniors living under $77-million plans now before Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council.

The Forestville RSL Club plans are the latest to be lodged as NSW clubs looked to diversify away from gaming.

The two-stage Forestville RSL Club development would start with a new 2263sq m club and basement parking at the bowling greens.

The existing club would then be demolished to make way for 39 independent living units (ILUs) in a low-density apartment complex on the site at 22 Melwood Avenue, Forrestville, about 15km north of the Sydney CBD. 

The homes and new club planned for the 9014sq m site were designed by Quattro Architecture.

Forestville RSL Club chief executive Ian Thompson said they had looked at what other clubs were doing to create a more financial, operational and sustainable future for the club.

▲ A render of the planned independent living units that a BBF Town Planners report said would fund the redevelopment.

“Higher interest rates and cost-of-living pressures across every level of the community also presented challenges for businesses, particularly in the ever-changing hospitality sector,” Thompson said.

“Two other local clubs, Dee Why RSL Club and the Builders Club Dee Why, have both recently announced new property developments where new ILUs are the focus.  

“Dee Why RSL has flagged a new development that will add significantly to their existing independent living complex, where they have a ‘wait list’ of over 200 people. 

“The Builders Club development will see a new club and approximately 50 ILUs built on their existing landholding in Dee Why.  

“These clubs join many other NSW Clubs who have embarked on, or who are currently navigating, similar business propositions as clubs seek to diversify their revenue streams away from a dependence on gaming.”  

▲ The planned seniors apartments are two and three-bedrooms across three buildings with pedestrian pathways throughout the site.

The move to modernise outdated RSL clubs has swept across NSW and while apartments for seniors was the most common approach, a few developers had looked at other options.

The Parramatta RSL Club sold its carpark at 7 Macquarie Street for $25.3 million in July, 2022 to Marrapacca who intended on building a co-living tower.

Meanwhile, Cronulla RSL has partenered with Suburbanite was shopping out development opportunities at its beachside landholding.

Castle Hill RSL is planning a huge landscaped carpark creating a memorial space alongside a $340-million seniors development with 321 apartments.