First Stage Filed for $1.1bn Penrith Masterplan

Plans for the first of 10 stages for a $1.1-billion masterplan west of Sydney have been filed.

SHMH Group is seeking approval from the Penrith City Council for the first step of its 1995-apartment masterplan, dubbed The Beacons, on a site formerly home to the Panasonic TV assembly plant, which was demolished in 2018. 

The plans would allow the transformation of a “strategic city centre” into a “vibrant, high-quality urban precinct,” according to the developer.

The Beacons would “set a new benchmark” for housing delivery and urban design in Penrith, 57km west of the Sydney CBD by road, it said. 

SHMH Real Estate Group—one of the top 50 property developers in Shanghai—is the parent company of SHMH.

The first stage plans comprise four towers.

The blocks across sites 1A and 1B would contain 278 apartments at 164 Station Street in the western Sydney suburb, 57km from the CBD. 

It launched concept plans for its mammoth residential precinct, 1.2km from Penrith train station, in early 2025. They are currently being assessed by the council. 

The plans filed also provide further detail about the concept plan, proposing childcare and retail uses for the site, as well as residential. 

▲ A rendering by PTW Architects, who is designing the first stage of the Penrith masterplan proposal.

The four towers would be between 10 and 14 storeys and be atop four-storey podiums for a combined 26,386.6sq m of residential space.

The apartments would be a mix of one, two and three bedrooms. Also proposed are four levels of above-ground parking in the podium structure.

The project, designed by PTW Architects, would sit on a 9943sq m section of the site.

A new through-site link between Station Street and internal roadways, around which the current sites 1A and 1B would be arranged, is also part ofthe plans. 

A total of 1480sq m of ground floor space would be dedicated to retail, and a childcare centre would be included at podium level on Site 1B. 

▲ The precinct would deliver nearly 2000 homes at Penrith.

The first stage also includes townhouse-style residences along public-facing facades “providing a transition in scale”, according to the development application now before the Penrith council. 

Parking for 308 residential car spaces and 101 retail and visitor spaces would be provided.

Two new public parks are also proposed, for Lots 1C and 1D to the north-east and south-west of the development.

The 78,490sq m site is bounded by Station Street, Jamison Road and Woodriff Street.

The precinct would benefit from the “rebirth” of the nearby Penrith Stadium, where work has begun on a $309-million rebuild to deliver a 30,000-seat stadium. 

Other developers are seeing the attraction of Penrith—in May, Urban Property Group was approved for an additional 150 apartments at its Lord Sheffield Circuit project.