ApartmentsVanessa CrollWed 24 Jun 26
Rouse Hill’s Scrutinised $67m Apartment Scheme Advances
A $67-million apartment scheme on a Rouse Hill site once questioned in parliament over a former NSW minister’s property interests has taken its next step towards construction.
Herman Residences, at 38 Cudgegong Road about 500m from Tallawong Metro, has secured the approval required before building work for four eight-storey buildings can begin.
The scheme comprises 295 apartments, 392 at-grade and basement car spaces, communal and private open space, landscaping, stormwater works and a pedestrian link.
Blacktown City Council records list the latest approval as issued for the site, more than a decade after the original application was lodged.
Southern Han Rouse Hill Pty Ltd was named as owner when consent was granted in March, 2018, with Zhinar Architects listed as applicant and credited on planning drawings.
A current ASIC extract lists Southern Han Rouse Hill as a registered NSW company based at Eastwood, with Rustom Wee Chung Kudinar-Kwee named as director, secretary and sole member.
The project has been modified several times since approval but has retained its four-building, 295-apartment form.
A 2021 modification went to delivery rather than yield, seeking simpler basement levels, changed ramp access, a new basement 2 ramp and two spaces for each three-bedroom apartment.
It also sought to shift a remediation trigger from before certificate issue to before building work began.
Planning consultant Allan Caladine’s statement of environmental effects said the change would allow bank funding to be released so work could start.
BASIX material divides the 1.225ha site into 72 apartments in Block A, 64 in Block B, 71 in Block C and 88 in Block D. Zhinar’s site plan shows a long holding beside the Sydney Metro Northwest corridor, with Blocks C and D forming Stage 1 and Blocks A and B Stage 2.
It also shows a 30.48m transmission-line easement, 47 visitor spaces, basement ramps, new-road land and the pedestrian link.
An online project listing shows Herman Residences as under construction with a mid-2027 completion estimate, later than the late-2026 timing previously attached to the scheme.
Political attention came in 2019, when former NSW Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors, and Veterans John Sidoti faced parliamentary questions over his declared 10 per cent interest in 38 Cudgegong Road amid claims about value uplift.
Sidoti said he had complied with disclosure obligations and denied wrongdoing.
Separate ICAC findings later made against Sidoti related to Five Dock property interests, not Rouse Hill. Sidoti left the Liberal party and his ministerial roles following findings of serious corrupt conduct by ICAC in 2022.
The sign-off moves one of Tallawong’s older apartment approvals closer to delivery as the metro precinct shifts from planning ambition to construction.
Herman Residences adds 295 apartments near the Sydney Metro Northwest corridor, where government planning has envisaged 4400 homes close to transport and jobs.
Rouse Hill Town Centre and the $910-million Rouse Hill Hospital, where construction began in February, add to the infrastructure case for more housing in the corridor.
