$439.3 Million Mandarin Centre Proposal Seeks Rezoning

$439.3 Million Mandarin Centre Proposal Seeks Rezoning

March 18, 2026

A page from the architectural plans for the proposed development.

The Mandarin Centre site in Chatswood is on public exhibition until 13 April 2026, with a redevelopment proposal that would replace the existing five-storey retail complex with a part 28-storey, part 32-storey mixed-use tower above a four-storey retail podium and six basement levels. The scheme would deliver 325 apartments, including 26 affordable dwellings, on a prominent CBD site with direct access to Chatswood Interchange.

However, the core planning issue is not only the scale of the building. The application also includes a concurrent rezoning request that would remove the site’s floor space ratio control, lift the height controls to RL 192m and RL 205m, and insert a site-specific provision to allow minor additional overshadowing of Chatswood Oval between 11am and 12:15pm. That combination makes the proposal one of the more significant planning matters now before Chatswood.

The State Significant Development application, lodged as SSD-85024458, was declared State significant on 26 February 2025 under the Housing Delivery Authority pathway. As a result, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is assessing the project concurrently with the rezoning request, with the Minister for Planning or delegate as consent authority.

Concurrent rezoning sits at the centre of the proposal

The rezoning request is what gives the project its broader significance. In addition to removing the site’s FSR control, the applicant wants to amend the Willoughby LEP affordable housing map to require a 5 per cent contribution and revise clause 6.24 to remove the minimum non-residential floor space ratio restriction on the land. The request also seeks a specific clause that would permit minor extra overshadowing to Area 2 of Chatswood Oval.

That matters because the proposal is asking not just for consent to build, but also for a new planning framework for this site. The EIRS argues the current controls no longer reflect market conditions in Chatswood’s office sector and limit redevelopment potential. It says the project could contribute about 9.5 per cent of Willoughby’s revised five-year housing target while retaining a large retail component in the commercial core.

The proposed development would contain 48,273sqm of gross floor area, including 33,021sqm of residential GFA and 9,257sqm of retail space. It would also include 444 car spaces, 86 bicycle spaces and 1,075sqm of communal open space. The estimated development cost is $439.3 million, excluding GST. The building itself would reach RL 203.75 at its highest point, which sits below the RL 205m maximum control sought through the rezoning.

A long planning history has shaped the current scheme

The site’s planning history stretches back more than a decade. A planning proposal first emerged in 2013 to amend the Willoughby LEP and allow a mixed-use redevelopment with a strong residential component. Council officers initially supported the direction, and Gateway approval followed in 2014. However, councillors rejected the proposal in 2015, prompting an amended approach.

A revised proposal followed in 2016. Then, in 2020, the Chatswood CBD Strategy introduced stronger limits on residential development in the commercial core. The applicant says it reduced residential floorspace to 30 per cent at that point, but argues the redevelopment still did not stack up commercially. The EIRS points to weak demand for new office space, high vacancy rates and limited major commercial additions in Chatswood over the past 30 years as the reason the site has remained underused.

The current scheme emerged after an expression of interest was submitted under the new Housing Delivery Authority pathway in January 2025. That pathway allows concurrent consideration of planning proposals and development applications where projects can deliver high-density housing in well-located areas.

Overshadowing of Chatswood Oval will be a key issue

One of the most closely watched parts of the assessment will be overshadowing. The applicant seeks a site-specific LEP clause to allow minor additional overshadowing between 11am and 12:15pm within Area 2 of Chatswood Oval. The EIRS says the additional shadow would be limited to the oval’s northern edge and would largely fall within the existing tree canopy shadow line. It also says the central playing area, cricket pitch and rugby areas would remain unaffected.

The report quantifies the extra shadow beyond the LEP-permissible height as between 4.38 per cent and 1.12 per cent between 11am and 12pm on 21 June, with an average increase of 1.07 per cent. Even so, the need for a specific LEP amendment underlines that this is a sensitive part of the proposal. For planners and nearby residents, the question will be whether the housing and public domain benefits justify any departure from the existing sun access protections.

An architectural plan sheet for the proposed development. — Architectural plans illustrate the proposed layout and design for the Mandarin Centre redevelopment in Chatswood.

Design review has reshaped the built form

The design has been through multiple workshops with the Department and the Government Architect, as well as review by the Design Review Panel. The EIRS says those processes led to changes in massing and setbacks, including an increased setback to the north and a tower crown treatment intended to reinforce a two-tower appearance. The report argues those refinements improved the proposal’s response to solar access, building separation and visual impacts.

The broader question now is whether the Department accepts the project’s planning logic. The applicant says the scheme is an appropriate response to a constrained CBD site with direct access to rail and metro services. However, because the proposal relies on concurrent rezoning, removal of the FSR cap and a site-specific overshadowing clause, the assessment will carry broader implications for future housing and built form outcomes in the Chatswood CBD.