Next Stage of Wentworth Point Masterplan Under Way

The next stage of City Freehold Projects’ residential redevelopment at Wentworth Point is on its way. 

An application was lodged this month to the City of Parramatta for the construction of a residential complex containing 300 apartments, dubbed Block C—the second stage of the residential masterplan launched in 2018. 

If approved, the site will consist of four buildings ranging in height from seven to 20 storeys, containing a total of 300 homes and 445 carparking spaces with two basement carpark levels.

The first stage, Block D, is costing a reported $121 million, and is due for completion in June 2023.

MPN Group, Richard Crookes Constructions and architects Bates Smart are working on the project for City Freehold. The team hit a milestone on Block D this year, bringing the site out of the ground in June, before turning its attention to the next stage, Block C. 

Efficient Living, a Sydney-based ESD consultancy, has been commissioned to identify sustainable design initiatives that could reduce the environmental impact of the proposed development and provide a pathway to net-zero operation.

▲ A render of the next stage of the Wentworth Point project—Block C.

In its proposals, Efficient Living includes a PV array for onsite renewable energy, energy-efficient and electric-heat pump systems for space conditioning, hot water and dryers, electric-vehicle charging stations and high-performance facades optimised through building-energy-modelling software simulations.

Wentworth Point has experienced major interest in recent years from residential developers as it moves away from its industrial past.

In October, approval was secured by Japanese-backed developer Sekisui House for a $2-billion masterplanned project at 14-15 Hill Road, close to the City Freehold development. 

Meanwhile, Wentworth Point Town Centre development was named Development of the Year 2022 and best Masterplanned Community at the Property Council of Australia/Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation and Excellence Awards in Sydney this year.

City Freehold acquired the Wentworth site in the mid-1990s and first proposed the redevelopment masterplan in 2015, submitting an application to the City of Parramatta for the first stage of the development in 2018. 

The site was previously occupied by four industrial units that were used primarily for freight storage. Due to the site’s location next to the Parramatta River on Homebush Bay there is a “critically high” water table that the contracting team has been focused on piling, and foundation and retention works.

The notification period began on November 25, 2022 and ends on January 11, 2023. The application will be determined by the Sydney Central City Planning Panel.