Sonic Healthcare plans 514 apartments in two Macquarie Park towers

A 514-apartment, two-tower project at 14 Giffnock Avenue, Macquarie Park, has appeared on the NSW major projects register, with towers of up to 28 and 39 storeys. The proposal, SSD-109971738, is a state significant development in the City of Ryde and is at the “Prepare EIS” stage, meaning the environmental impact statement has not yet been lodged or put on exhibition.

Why it matters

The site sits in one of Sydney’s biggest employment precincts, and the proposal would add a large residential component to an area long dominated by office and laboratory floorspace. The Sydney pipeline already carries a growing list of Macquarie Park housing bids, and this one comes from an unusual source: a healthcare company.

According to realestatesource, which reported on the plan in May, the landowner is pathology group Sonic Healthcare, with its subsidiary Douglass Hanly Moir. The outlet reported that Sonic has owned 14 Giffnock Avenue since 1997 and that Stockland sold the neighbouring 16-20 Giffnock Avenue to it. Those ownership details are the outlet’s reporting.

For developers and agents, a corporate landowner moving into apartments on its own land raises a familiar question: build, partner or sell down once planning settles.

The numbers

The Planning Portal record lists:

• 514 apartments across two residential towers of up to 28 and 39 storeys
• podiums for non-residential uses
• 5% affordable housing
• new roads and public open space as part of the works
• development type “HDA Housing”, assessed as a state significant development rather than by council

realestatesource also reported:

• about $350 million in capital investment, which the outlet said Sonic stated in its submission to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure
• 16-20 Giffnock Avenue bought from Stockland for about $70 million, described as book value
• a planned height limit of 130 metres and a floor space ratio of 3.3:1
• gross floor area of about 48,052 sqm
• a rezoning from E3 Productivity Support to MU1 Mixed Use
• DKO Architects as the designer

The outlet also placed the existing buildings on both lots as six-level B-grade offices. Treat each of these as the outlet’s reporting until the environmental impact statement confirms them.

At 5%, the affordable share is the number to watch. On 514 apartments, that works out to roughly 26 dwellings if the percentage applies to the full count.

What’s next

The stage sequence for state significant development runs from SEARs through preparing the EIS, public exhibition, collation of submissions, a response to submissions, assessment, recommendation and determination. This project has its early consultation, request for SEARs and the SEARs themselves on file, and sits at the second step.

Nothing is approved. The next visible milestone is lodgement of the EIS and its exhibition, when the capital investment value, applicant, final heights and the affordable housing mechanism should be stated on the record. Submissions from the City of Ryde and the community follow exhibition, and the Minister or the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure decides the application, not council.

We will update the project when the EIS goes on exhibition.