Holdmark NSW has lodged a $496.5 million state significant development application and concurrent rezoning request for 2–10 Valentine Avenue, Parramatta, seeking a 72-storey mixed-use scheme on the southern edge of the CBD. The proposal combines a new shop-top housing tower with the conversion of an existing 13-storey office building into co-living accommodation, alongside retail uses and public domain works.
The 3,937sqm site sits just south-east of Parramatta Station and about 440 metres from the planned Parramatta Metro Station. It is currently occupied by a six-level car park at 2 Valentine Avenue and a 13-storey commercial office building at 10 Valentine Avenue.
What is proposed
The application seeks consent to demolish the existing multi-deck car park, remove the internal fit-out from the office building, and excavate up to six basement levels on the southern portion of the site. It also proposes the removal of 23 trees, new landscaping, building signage, stratum subdivision into four lots, and utility upgrades.
The new tower would rise to RL243.85, or 233.25 metres, and deliver 479 apartments across levels 1 to 70. Ground level would include a lobby, retail premises and a loading dock, while communal open space and resident amenities would sit on levels 5 and 71. Six basement levels would provide 144 car spaces and 136 bicycle spaces.
The northern building would retain its structure but change from commercial use to co-living housing with ancillary retail. The proposal includes 440 co-living units providing 608 beds, with a mix of single, twin, triple and quad-share rooms. It would also include communal kitchens, study areas, lounges, games areas, a gym, shared laundry, and communal open space on levels 7 and 14. Basement level 1 would provide 17 car spaces and 56 bicycle spaces.
Across both buildings, the scheme would deliver 77,644sqm of gross floor area. The residential tower accounts for 60,776sqm, while the co-living component accounts for 16,867sqm. The applicant says the project would support 733 direct construction jobs and 113 direct operational jobs.
Affordable housing and housing mix
The tower includes a commitment to dedicate 4 per cent of dwellings as affordable housing. The application also positions the co-living component as purpose-built student accommodation, citing the site’s proximity to major university campuses and the need for more diverse housing in Parramatta’s CBD.
The residential mix includes 155 one-bedroom apartments, 247 two-bedroom apartments and 77 three-bedroom apartments. In addition, the co-living building would provide 319 single rooms, 86 twin-share rooms, 23 triple-share rooms and 12 quad-share rooms.
Why the proposal has shifted from office to housing
The site has a long planning history. The current proposal follows earlier commercial and mixed-use schemes that did not proceed. The applicant says previous approvals in 2018 and 2020 lapsed after the former owner failed to secure tenant pre-commitments for office uses. More recently, a build-to-rent proposal advanced through a design excellence process in 2024 before the project moved to the Housing Delivery Authority pathway.
The EIRS says the northern office building contains about 16,000sqm of commercial floor space and is now fully vacant. It also argues that Parramatta CBD office vacancy has increased sharply since the pandemic and that repurposing the site for housing and retail would better support activity in this part of the city centre.
The rezoning request
The proposal is tied to a concurrent amendment to the Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2023. For the southern portion of the site, the applicant seeks to rezone the land to MU1 Mixed Use, increase the maximum building height to RL243.85, and set a floor space ratio of 31.9:1.
For the northern portion, the applicant seeks a site-specific planning pathway to enable co-living housing and to allow gross floor area of up to 16,867sqm. The EIRS says this approach would permit the current co-living proposal while retaining the E2 Commercial Centre zoning for that part of the site for future planning flexibility.
Design, access and public domain works
The project retains the team behind the competition-winning residential design developed for the earlier build-to-rent scheme. The proposed tower form responds to the site’s narrow shape and long interface with the rail corridor. Retail tenancies would activate Valentine Avenue, while the residential lobby would sit at the corner of Valentine Avenue and Parkes Street.
Vehicular access to both buildings would come from Valentine Avenue. The application also responds to Council’s planned streetscape upgrades, which include wider footpaths, more trees, smart poles and a future two-way conversion of Valentine Avenue. The transport assessment considers both the current one-way arrangement and a future two-way scenario.
Public domain works would run along Valentine Avenue and Parkes Street. In addition, the project includes hard and soft landscaping and a Connecting with Country framework prepared with input from Traditional Custodians through Artefact.
Planning pathway
The project entered the NSW Government’s Housing Delivery Authority pathway after Holdmark submitted an expression of interest in March 2025. The proposal was declared state significant development in June 2025, with the Minister acting as consent authority.
The EIRS has been prepared in support of SSD-90243456 and the concurrent rezoning request. It says the scheme would contribute to the State’s housing targets, including Parramatta’s five-year target of 19,500 new dwellings.
Project team
- Developer: Holdmark NSW Pty Ltd
- Planning: Urbis
- Architecture: Buchan, collaborating with Furtado Sullivan; Curzon + Partners
- Landscape: Site Image
- Connecting with Country: Artefact
- Traffic: ARUP
- Economic Impact: Atlas
For more information, search the application number (SSD-90243456) on the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s website.
