Goodman Plots BtR Conversion for Sydney Business Park

Goodman, the Australian industrial property and business space provider heavyweight, is joining the charge towards build-to-rent, revealing plans to level a western Sydney business park and replace it with six apartment blocks.

The global provider wants to demolish its Waterloo Business Park on 1.6ha at Macquarie Park and in a $275.1-million switch from its core business build 594 apartments in towers up to 19 storeys tall.

With that level of construction costs, Goodman is now preparing an environmental impact statement to put before the New South Wales department of planning and environment as a state significant development.

Concept plans before the department show six mixed-use buildings at 35 Waterloo Road with the apartments across a total of 47,500 sq m of gross floor area, and another 2950sq m of shops and other retail.

There is basement parking for an undisclosed number of vehicles as well as community facilities and recreation areas at ground level.

The developers want to build a new road to the north of the site, linking Lane Cove and Dirrabari roads.  DKO Architecture’s plans show “a centralised green spine” allowing pedestrian connections throughout the site.

In supporting documents, town planners Ethos Urban said the proposed development had the potential to contribute to employment within the local and regional area, helping to support employment targets for the Eastern Harbour City and Macquarie Park.

“Indicative estimates suggest that around 330 direct construction job-years and around 140 direct ongoing operational jobs could be supported by the project,” the town planners wrote.

In the same documents Ethos Urban points to a 1714-sq-m parcel of land at the centre of the development site—housing a service station, car wash and convenience store—which is not part of the application.

▲ Concept plans by architects DKO show how the six apartment towers will be situated on the Waterloo Road site.

“However, the development has been designed accordingly to ensure appropriate integration and interface with the service station and to ensure it is not isolated,” Ethos Urban said.

Under the Ryde City Council local environmental plan, the site is zoned B3 commercial core, which allows for build-to-rent developments.

Goodman is not the first to discover the strong market fundamentals of Australia’s rising build-to-rent sector.

But western Sydney generally, and Macquarie Park specifically, have become key target regions.

In August 2020 urban planning consultants Hassell were contracted by Ryde City Council to help produce a strategic master plan for the Waterloo Road corridor and the surrounding neighbourhood.

That document found Macquarie Park had long been transforming from a sprawling business park to an emerging central business district, with jobs in the region expected to grow steadily to 79,000 by 2036.

Student places are also expected to grow from 32,500 to 55,000 by 2030, making it the third biggest concentration of jobs and students in NSW.

Waterloo Road’s role, the report said was as the precinct’s “main street.”

“The areas along the Waterloo Road corridor are going through substantial changes responding to the changing typology of the surrounding precinct with increased zones of residential, commercial and open space developments,” Hassell said.

Contacted for comment about the project, a Goodman spokesperson would only say they were currently “working through planning.”