Car yards, churches and bowling greens: The sites earmarked for Sydney’s next housing towers

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Sydney’s housing crisis is reshaping the city in ways few would have imagined a decade ago, with churches, shopping centres, golf courses, hospitals and even universities emerging as unlikely frontiers in the race to build more homes.

An analysis of major projects declared by the NSW government’s Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) suggests almost no well-located parcel of land is now off-limits for redevelopment, with sites once considered unsuitable for housing being targeted for apartment developments, some rising to 78 storeys.

An artist’s impression of a HDA development proposal, located on the site of a former paint factory in St Peters.NSW Department of Planning

Introduced in late 2024, the HDA was designed to accelerate housing supply by allowing major projects to bypass lengthy council assessment processes.

The authority has since declared 484 developments that, if completed, could deliver more than 134,000 homes across Greater Sydney and a further 16,400 in regional NSW.

But the scale of the proposals and the suitability of some sites have sparked fierce debate. While the government argues faster approvals are essential to tackle the housing shortage, residents and councils have questioned whether communities are receiving enough public benefit, affordable housing and supporting infrastructure in return for major planning concessions.

University of Sydney urban planning professor Nicole Gurran said developers were increasingly targeting sites such as recreation clubs and community land because they had historically been excluded from residential zoning, keeping land values comparatively lower than traditional apartment sites.

“The promise of the HDA is that it can cut through years of planning processes, but the challenge will be ensuring that when exceptions are made, new homes are matched by infrastructure, services and public benefits – particularly affordable housing – needed to maintain community confidence in the planning system,” she said.

Here is a look at some of the unexpected sites proposed for major developments under the HDA:

Church land

Land at the St Francis Xavier Church site would have three mixed-use buildings of up to 20 storeys as part of a HDA-declared project.

Places of worship are emerging as some of Sydney’s newest apartment addresses, with proposals seeking to retain churches while redeveloping surplus land around them.

Projects include 172 homes on the St George’s Anglican Church site at Hurstville, 144 apartments at Christ Church in Gladesville, 150 units at Mascot Wesley Uniting Church, and 178 homes at Narellan Anglican Church.

The trend comes after religious advocacy group Faith Housing Australia called on the NSW government to relax zoning restrictions on land owned by religious organisations, identifying 747 faith-owned sites across NSW with the potential to deliver up to 20,000 homes.

Not every proposal has been welcomed. A 20-storey, 186-apartment development at St Francis Xavier Church in Lavender Bay has attracted fierce opposition from residents.

Community campaigner Ian Curdie said the proposal would “loom over” the church, detract from its heritage and “overwhelm a suburb already struggling with inadequate infrastructure”.

Shopping centres

Royal Randwick Shopping Centre would be redeveloped as part of plans declared by the HDA.Paul Jones

From shopping centres to homemaker precincts, retail destinations are increasingly being reimagined as high-density residential precincts.

The largest project declared under the HDA would transform Westfield Warringah Mall, with 1500 apartments across eight buildings up to 39 storeys high.

Other major proposals include 1002 homes at Bankstown Central, 870 homes in five towers above Supa Centa Moore Park and 784 homes at Eastwood Shopping Centre.

UNSW Future Cities Research Centre professor Chris Pettit said large retail landowners were well placed to capitalise on the HDA reforms because their extensive landholdings made higher-density redevelopment more practical.

Other HDA proposals include 736 apartments at Eastlakes Shopping Centre, 710 units at Wetherill Park Market Town, 470 apartments at Chatswood Chase and 237 units at Royal Randwick Shopping Centre.

University to units

Universities are also emerging as unexpected sites for residential development.

Western Sydney University is seeking to transform its North Parramatta campus into a major residential precinct with up to 2000 apartments, student accommodation, retail space and community facilities.

Western Sydney University has plans to redevelop its North Parramatta campus.

A university spokesperson said the project would revitalise underused land and provide “desperately needed new housing supply” close to Parramatta’s growing CBD.

The plans have drawn formal opposition from Parramatta Council, which estimates the development could house about 4200 residents and place additional, unsustainable pressure on roads, services and local infrastructure.

Industrial relics

A photo of the former Corrimal Coke Works site.

Some of NSW’s most historic industrial sites are being given a second life as housing developments.

In St Peters, the former Taubmans paint factory – a landmark of Australian manufacturing that opened in 1901 – has been earmarked for a 471-apartment build-to-rent development incorporating retail laneways, creative spaces, a cinema and podcasting studios. After the factory closed in 1996, the site evolved into a creative precinct housing artists, designers, makers and hospitality businesses.

While developers argue the project would preserve the site’s “distinctive character” while delivering new housing in Sydney’s inner west, the redevelopment has attracted community concern over building heights, traffic, parking and affordable housing allocations.

In the Illawarra, the historic Corrimal Coke Works is set for a similar transformation.

The 18.2-hectare industrial site, which operated from 1912 to 2014, is proposed to deliver about 800 homes while preserving its brick chimney, powerhouse and heritage coke ovens.

Golfing greens

Muirfield Golf Club at North Rocks has plans for a $250 million HDA development.

With many suburban golf clubs facing declining memberships and rising maintenance costs, fairways are increasingly being viewed as potential housing sites.

Muirfield Golf Club at North Rocks has lodged plans with the HDA for a $250 million redevelopment including 400 homes, seniors housing and affordable dwellings.

About 5 per cent of the club’s land would be redeveloped as part of the proposal, which would also involve redesigning the existing 18-hole course.

The proposal follows similar redevelopments at other Sydney golf clubs, including Chatswood, Cumberland and Kogarah.

In planning documents, Muirfield Golf Club said the redevelopment would strengthen the club’s long-term financial viability while allowing it to “continue serving members and the wider community”.

Hospital high-rise plan

Buildings as tall as 19 storeys are planned at the hospital site as part of the HDA proposal.

Healthcare campuses are also being targeted for major mixed-use housing precincts.

Sydney Adventist Hospital at Wahroonga has lodged a $691 million proposal through the HDA to redevelop its 64-hectare campus.

The master-plan features 615 homes, a new hospital wing, seniors living, retail, commercial space, a school, a church and recreation facilities.

The proposal includes 11 buildings of up to 19 storeys, but has attracted opposition from community groups concerned about traffic, bushfire evacuation risk and the scale of development.

Plans by developer Capital Corporation and the Australasian Conference Association stated that the project would generate $2.8 billion in economic activity and create more than 1350 jobs.

Bowling clubs

Gymea Miranda Bowling and Sports Club has been a fixture of the Sutherland Shire for more than 60 years.

Long regarded as the social heart of suburban communities, bowling clubs are increasingly being repurposed into mixed-use housing projects.

In the Sutherland Shire, the 60-year-old Miranda Gymea Bowling and Sports Club has been earmarked for redevelopment with 120 apartments, 130 seniors living units and a rebuilt clubhouse.

Supporters say the project would secure the club’s future, but it has divided members and drawn concerns from residents about building heights, traffic and impacts on the village character of Gymea.

In western Sydney, the former Blacktown City Bowling Club, which closed in 2024, is proposed to become a 12-storey mixed-use development. Plans lodged with the HDA show the project would include 570 apartments, seniors housing and 30 affordable homes for key workers.

Pubs, clubs and hotels

The Cyprus Community Club site in Stanmore has been earmarked for a HDA development.Nick Moir

Hotels, RSLs and licensed clubs are also being recast as residential developments as operators seek new revenue streams.

Major HDA proposals include 924 apartments at Sylvania’s Crest Hotel and adjoining shopping centre, 440 homes at the Cabramatta Hotel and 190 apartments at the heritage-listed Strathfield Hotel.

The former Cyprus Community Club in Stanmore has also been identified for a 25-storey tower containing 750 apartments and a supermarket after the organisation sold the site and relocated to Lakemba last year.

Other proposals include 115 apartments at Dee Why RSL and a 20-storey redevelopment of Mortdale RSL with 233 apartments.

A concept image of the skyscraper planned on Church St, in Parramatta.NSW Department of Planning

Special mentions

Some of the HDA’s most striking proposals involve sites rarely associated with residential development.

In Parramatta, a former car service centre on Church Street has been identified for a 78-storey build-to-rent tower containing about 1000 apartments. If completed, the development would become Parramatta’s tallest skyscraper.

Car dealerships are also emerging as redevelopment targets, including the Tynan Motors site in Sutherland, where a 16-storey development with 261 apartments has been proposed.

Haberfield’s historic Yasmar Estate, a former juvenile detention site, has meanwhile been proposed for a 200-unit development, prompting opposition from residents concerned about impacts on the suburb’s heritage character.

Perhaps the clearest sign of Sydney’s changing planning landscape is that local government is embracing the same pathway. Burwood Council has become the first Sydney council to pursue its own HDA project on a row of heritage terraces on Burleigh Street it spent almost five decades acquiring between 1976 and 2023 for “future community use”. The council is now planning to build 500 units on the site.

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David Barwell is an urban affairs reporter for The Sydney Morning HeraldConnect via email.