![\"FK](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design__28_.jpg\")
\u25b2 FK renderings of the proposed tower from George Street with the podium facade shown on the right.<\/p>\nA $248.8-million tower in Western Sydney would start a two-site push into highrise modular housing after Australia\u2019s first modular design competition.<\/p>\n
Freecity\u2019s State Significant plans for a 40-storey build-to-rent tower at 1 Barrack Lane and 81-83 George Street are on exhibition until December 10, with a second major housing project advancing next door at 89-91 George Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The FK-designed tower emerged from an invited competition earlier this year, with all entries required to support a factory-built delivery program.<\/p>\n
Prefab Projects reported it as the first modular design competition for a major Australian highrise.<\/p>\n
Planning documents said the tower would \u201cbe delivered through Volumetric Modular Construction (VMC) \u2026\u00a0 involving the off-site fabrication of building modules that are transported and assembled on-site\u201d.<\/p>\n
Freecity said it chose the modular method due to timing pressures because traditional construction \u201cwasn\u2019t able to deliver the project as efficiently and within the Housing Accord period (2029) as VMC\u201d.<\/p>\n
The first project would deliver 383 build-to-rent apartments above a three-storey podium, using factory-made modules to reduce delivery time by 40 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u25b2 FK renderings of the proposed tower from George Street with the podium facade shown on the right.<\/p>\n
The tower would rise from a traditional concrete podium and core, with steel modules\u2014typically 11.2m long and 3.5m wide\u2014craned into place and locked together.<\/p>\n
Freecity said this approach would reduce noise, dust, construction traffic and impacts on heritage items including Perth House, the Warders Cottages and the convict-era drainage system.<\/p>\n
The 3071sq m site fronts George Street and Barrack Lane inside Parramatta\u2019s E2 Commercial Centre zone, 24km west of the Sydney CBD and close to Parramatta Station, the light rail, the ferry wharf and future Metro West station.<\/p>\n
Existing buildings\u2014a three-storey office at 81 George Street, a three-storey commercial building at 83 George Street and a two-storey building at 1 Barrack Lane\u2014would be demolished.<\/p>\n
The ground floor would hold flexible retail space, a lobby, management rooms, waste facilities, separate residential and service vehicle entries, four service bays and bicycle repair amenities.<\/p>\n
![\"Rendering](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design__29_.jpg\")
\u25b2 A rendering of the proposed 40-storey tower from Smith Street.<\/p>\n
Two podium levels above would include 71 parking spaces, hundreds of bicycle spaces, motorcycle bays, storage and plant.<\/p>\n
A third podium level would provide outdoor communal space.<\/p>\n
Above the podium, 37 residential floors would deliver 383 apartments, including 235 capable of dual-key layouts.<\/p>\n
Communal rooms, lounges, workspaces and recreation areas would be spread throughout the tower.<\/p>\n
Balconies would be enclosed because \u201ctraditional open balconies are incompatible with the waterproofing requirements of the VMC method\u201d, planning documents said.<\/p>\n
Freecity\u2019s second project at 89-91 George Street is progressing through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway.<\/p>\n
A scoping report outlined plans for a 71-storey mixed-use tower with about 530 dual-key build-to-rent units and 300 co-living units, built around the same modular system.<\/p>\n
Planning documents said both towers would support the restoration and adaptive reuse of Perth House and its stables and help activate part of George Street.<\/p>\n
The block has shifted purpose several times.<\/p>\n
ASX-listed developer GPT once assembled the 81 George Street and 1 Barrack Lane block as part of a proposed $1.6-billion office precinct <\/a>with towers rising 60 and 35 storeys.<\/p>\n According to Real Commercial, the group sold its Parramatta holding in mid-2024\u2014along with a North Sydney site\u2014to Freecity in a deal reported at $219 million.<\/p>\n Freecity has repositioned the block into a living-sector precinct, one piece of its 6000-home pipeline the company aims to deliver using Volumetric Modular Construction.<\/p>\n Executive director of development Michael Romano told The Urban Developer the 40-storey project would deliver \u201cenough to house up to 1100 residents\u201d in an area where demand for rental homes continues to climb.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re committed to the build-to-rent sector for the long term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis model can give Sydney renters more secure tenancies and properly managed buildings with communal spaces, creating a place that feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n He said modular construction was central to Freecity\u2019s pipeline.<\/p>\n \u201c[Our] focus is to deliver much-needed homes across the living sector and prove VMC can be part of the solution to Sydney\u2019s housing crisis. We\u2019re focused on quality, speed and sustainability\u2014all of that means people in homes sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n Parramatta\u2019s development pipeline continues to intensify as Metro West <\/a>reshapes the CBD spine.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled_design__30_.jpg\")
\u25b2 An early concept of the proposed 71-storey tower for 89-91 George Street.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Holdmark_Melrose__Hero.jpg\")
\u25b2 A rendering of the planned Melrose Wharf precinct, where Holdmark intends to deliver new homes and activate the Parramatta River foreshore. <\/p>\n