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February 2, 2026 — 5:00am
It’s been labelled a “varicose vein”, “a grimey traffic sewer” and a former NSW premier even likened it to driving through “Beirut on a bad day.”
But after years of planning, there are signs Sydney’s Parramatta Road could be inching towards a long-touted transformation as developers swoop on recently enacted planning changes aimed at boosting high-rise housing along the congested inner-city thoroughfare.
New housing towers, standing up to 35 storeys, are among a list of newly approved and planned developments set to transform the 23km roadway.
An analysis of NSW Planning data shows developers are intending to spend $2.76 billion building 6006 units along Parramatta Road including on land occupied by petrol stations, run-down milk bars, second-hand car yards and graffiti-scrawled shopfronts.
Committee for Sydney chief executive Eamon Waterford said the projects were the “first green shoots” in the long-promised transformation of the roadway after years of delays hindered by complex zoning controls, poor infrastructure and fragmented land ownership arrangements.
“The government has undertaken massive rezoning changes along the corridor and that’s allowed for significantly higher building heights, which has facilitated the feasibility of development,” he said. “At the same time, Sydney is in the grips of an affordability crisis, we desperately need new homes and that’s fuelling demand.”
What’s next for Annandale
Tracking east to west, the list of developments set to reshape the roadway includes a 21-storey tower with 220 build-to-rent units planned on the former WestConnex tunnelling site at the corner of Pyrmont Bridge and Parramatta roads in Annandale.
Across the road from the site, the Olde English Tiles store – which has humbly stood for the past 24 years – is also slated for demolition to make way for a 22-storey tower with 281 units.
Tracking further west, and a dilapidated row of shops at 45-57 Parramatta Road – dubbed by locals as the “eyesore of Annandale” – is a step closer to redevelopment after plans for 103 units on the site was granted approval in the NSW Land and Environment Court in October.
The stretch of Parramatta Road between Annandale and Haberfield is also sparking a flurry of developer activity, including at the southern end of Leichhardt, where a planned 16-storey tower – the suburb’s tallest – has been earmarked on a block of land occupied by the Leichhardt Salvation Army store, a former kitchenware outlet and a bead shop.
But not all developments have been welcomed by residents. One of the most contentious developments is a $33 million plan to turn four Parramatta Road shopfronts on the corner of Renwick Street in Leichhardt into a seven-storey tower with 82 units.
Going lofty in Leichhardt
A report by Inner West Council obtained by The Herald shows more than 120 residents have written formal objections to the development due to potential traffic impacts, overshadowing, and the demolition of current businesses at the site, including long-running community art gallery Our Neon Foe.
Gallery manager and studio artist Owen Lewis expressed despair at the loss of the low-cost studio space he said had been used to exhibit works by hundreds of artists and “nurtured the professional development of scores more”.
A petition started by Our Neon Foe described the proposal as “yet another case of culture being pushed aside for big business in the inner west”.
But according to Robert Sargis, co-director of site developer DPG Project 19 Pty Ltd, which acquired the site in 2022, urban change on Parramatta Road was “desperately overdue”.
He said the development would also provide more housing choices in a part of Sydney where average weekly rents exceeded $900 and house prices topped $2.2 million.
“There will always be people who are resistant to change, but Parramatta Road is tired and is in desperate need of revival and, in the middle of a housing crisis, we shouldn’t be doing anything to hold up supply,” he said.
The Metro factor
New Sydney Metro stations under construction in Five Dock and Burwood North have triggered a surge in development activity on newly rezoned land surrounding the future transport hubs.
The largest development across the entire length of Parramatta Road will involve the construction of 1185 units in six residential towers, standing up to 30 storeys tall, as part of a sprawling $805 development by Deicorp on Parramatta Road in Five Dock.
Deicorp executive manager Robert Furolo said NSW government rezoning changes had provided “confidence” for the development to proceed after years of planning stagnation and delays.
“New homes along Parramatta Road have been talked about since the Parramatta Road Urban Transformation Strategy was released in 2016, but it wasn’t until the land was rezoned that development applications could safely be lodged and for our site, this didn’t happen until the end of 2022,” he said.
“Another reason it’s taken time to get more homes delivered in the area is the difficulty in amalgamating sites to allow development to occur – you have to make sure you don’t isolate sites when you’re submitting a proposal, and if a landowner doesn’t want to sell, or if the numbers don’t work, a project can stall.”
Multiple developments proposed along Parramatta Rd, including in Concord and Strathfield, have been classified as “co-living developments” – a type of housing targeted to students and young professionals. As part of the co-living model, development standards allow individual bedrooms to measure just 12sq/m and occupants share gardens and living areas.
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully in a statement said the surge in development activity along Parramatta Road was a sign NSW planning reforms were “unlocking development in areas neglected for decades”.
The reforms have included the establishment of 11 low and mid-rise housing precincts along the roadway, and the declaration of Homebush and Burwood North “as accelerated precincts” for high-rise housing.
Alex Mirzaian, director of development NSW at commercial real estate firm CBRE, said while Parramatta Road was showing signs of revival, he said the construction sector still had challenges including rising building costs and difficulties securing financing.
He said further government investment into open space, schools and outdoor spaces was also vital to improve the overall desirability of Parramatta Road as a place to live, work and play.
Waterford – in a speech at this week’s Sydney Summit – will call for the NSW government to prioritise further public transport investment in the Parramatta Road corridor, including an extension of Sydney’s light rail network along the roadway, to support the anticipated population growth.
“There are 6000 homes planned on Parramatta Rd today, but our analysis shows there’s capacity for up to 120,000 homes along the corridor and that many new homes are going to require better public transport beyond just Metro stations,” he said.
“The housing is coming whether we like it or not, and we can’t have a situation where we’re continuing to put more pressure on a road that’s already underperforming.”
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