The Living Company Breaks Ground on Sydney’s $664m Timberyards Precinct

Barely a month after receiving approval from the Independent Planning Commission , build-to-rent specialist The Living Company has broken ground on its Timberyards precinct. The $664-million project at Marrickville, about 7km west of the Sydney CBD, will comprise seven buildings up to 14 storeys yielding 474 build-to-rent apartments, 115 affordable units and 577 co-living homes. Speaking at the ground-breaking, NSW premier Chris Minns said that The Living Company had “really captured Marrickville with this project, which is not an easy thing to do with a new build”. “We need to build homes for people to live in and to rent. But it can’t overwhelm the local community. It has to add to the vibrancy, the culture, the beauty of the place. “With 1000 houses and homes, hopefully for young people, professionals, those that work in essential services; and 10,000sq m of open community space, this is a fantastic thing for Marrickville.” ▲ Minns praised the choice of limiting car spaces, saying it was appropriate for the pedestrian-friendly rental precinct close to Sydenham station. Minns said that the Productivity Commission had warned that Sydney was losing twice as many young people as it was gaining, “who are leaving our jurisdiction and moving to Brisbane or Perth or Melbourne—I don’t know why you’d want to move to Melbourne”. “And we want them to stay here. “We want them to live in Sydney, to grow families here, to join communities here, to coach cricket teams and football teams right here in Sydney. The only way we’re going to do that is if we have more projects exactly like this one.” Strategic retail key to success The Living Company development manager Jonathan Combley told The Urban Developer at the event that the project would open up and activate a locked-off corner of the suburb. “We’re re-using a lot of the parts and architectural components of the existing warehouses, so it’ll hold that Marrickville identity and character,” Combley said. “What’s unique about this is we’re converting a 2.2ha site into a new residential neighborhood, and 50 per cent of that is going to be public open space and public domain. “You don’t get to deliver scale in the Inner West like this.” ▲ Heights across the project’s seven buildings will accommodate flight paths for Sydney Airport. The 1425sq m of retail space, although small relative to the project’s size, “is hugely important to the success of these kinds of developments,” Combley said. “Because it really is the ground plane and the interface of the buildings to the rest of the public domain.” The Marrickville Metro shopping centre, which inlclude Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, is about 1km from the Timberyards site. Directly opposite the Timberyards on Victoria Road, the Wicks Place building hosts a Harris Farm supermarket. Rather than replicating or competing with existing retail spaces , Combley said, Timberyards would seek to create a F&amp;B and convenience zone, and to extend and connect dining and hospitality strips next to the site. ▲ The renter-focused typology mix has been designed to cater to the suburb’s young professionals and families. “It’s very important that we don’t want large chain brands. It’s really going to be local independents that take the space,” Combley said. Tenant campaigns may begin “early next year, about 18 months off from [the mid-2028 opening]”. The Living Company has been working with Matthew Yovich of Precinct Retail, among other retail strategy consultants, and is considering a modification application to “capture some of the changes in the retail thinking”. “Flexibility has been key, because the retail environment does change over time,” Combley said. ▲ Along with strategic retail, the precinct will include a creative hub and a co-working space. “We want the retailer to have that flexibility baked in, so that it’s not just a one-size-fits-all approach. We can get flexibility in the carve-out, and also the provisions to the retailers to attract them.” While The Living Company has plenty in the pipeline, with a focus on precinct-scale intergenerational living , Combley says the hunt for sites is still ongoing. “We’ve got one in Zetland, where we’re delivering another 394 apartments across six buildings—also precinct scale. And then another at Waterloo ; that’s three buildings and almost 200 apartments. “We are looking within a 4km radius of the [Sydney] CBD. We are actively looking for more opportunities where we can provide a diverse range of housing. So we’re looking at configuring student accommodation, with built-to-rent, with retirement.”

The Living Company Breaks Ground on Sydney’s $664m Timberyards Precinct

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