Holdmark has won approval for its 17-building village at Caddens in Sydney’s West albeit with minor amendments.
The estate will comprise 482 units, including 15 per cent (79 units) as affordable housing—an increase of six post-exhibition—across 16 five-to-seven-storey blocks.
The 8.1ha site at 68-80 O’Connell Street on Dharug land is a 10-minute drive east of the Penrith town centre, 13km north of the new Western Sydney International Airport and about 45km west of the Sydney CBD.
It is next to Western Sydney University’s Kingswood campus and about 2.2km to Kingswood station. The site grades a steep 20m from north to south.
A single-storey building would comprise two retail tenancies, a gym and a medical centre, rounding out commercial floor space alongside five other shoptops to 3157 square metres.
Unit typography will comprise 87 one, 317 two and 78 three-bedroom apartments.
The Caddens Corner shopping centre on the western half of the site will be retained, but its car park will be demolished. The site’s eastern section is vacant.
Three shared basements of two to four levels will provide 782 residential car spaces and 750 spots for shoppers.
The estate will be delivered in three stages. Buggies are to transport customers from Caddens Corner to the relocated basement car park from Stage 1.
The Penrith City Council refused Holdmark’s initial proposal for a 18-building, 469-unit estate on the 68 and 80 O’Connell Street lots filed in 2024 over prohibited land use and excessive density.
Of 147 submissions, 141 objected to the proposal with concerns about overcrowding, traffic congestion and a mob of eastern grey kangaroos being displaced.
Holdmark has now committed to building roundabouts at O’Connell Street’s Corr Road and Starline Drive intersections.
The developer made use of a 4.5m height bonus awarded for dedicating 15 per cent affordable housing. The state’s planning department has allowedheight exceedances for two of the buildings.
Holdmark was recently greenlit to convert a vacant office block into 600-bed student accommodation at Parramatta.
The developer’s “journey” to develop a 33-storey hotel and 23-storey office block at the Western Sydney city-suburb concluded with approval in January.
Holdmark’s Caddens village will cost about $341 million to build and create 600 construction jobs.
Nearby, Western Sydney University and Stockland have sought to rezone the institution’s Werrington campus to allow two to seven-storey buildings, 1000 homes, 500 apartments, a 1000-student primary school and 1.2ha of shop floors.
