ApartmentsVanessa CrollWed 13 May 26
West Botany Makes $28m Housing Push Near Airport
A $28-million apartment plan near Sydney Airport would replace three Arncliffe houses with a 40m-high building as West Botany Projects returns to a corridor where it has already tested Bayside’s planning controls.
Plans filed with the Bayside Council for 15-19 West Botany Street propose a 12-storey building of 50 apartments, including eight affordable units, above two basement levels and 63 car spaces.
The FUSE Architects-designed the scheme is proposed for a 1354sq m corner site on the western side of West Botany Street, south of the Princes Highway and about 700m from Arncliffe Station.
Houses and outbuildings across the three lots would be demolished, clearing a sloping block with frontages to West Botany and Duncan streets.
West Botany Projects is seeking the extra height through NSW’s affordable housing bonus, which allows larger buildings where part of a residential project is kept as affordable rental housing.
Base planning rules allow 31m on the site but the allowable height rises to 40.3m with the bonus.
Eight affordable apartments would account for 663sq m, or 15 per cent, of total floor area, and would need to remain affordable for at least 15 years under a registered community housing provider.
Floor space would rise 30 per cent above the base local limit, taking the scheme to 4400sq m across the three-lot block.
Plans show six one, 34 two, and nine three-bedroom homes, as well as a single four-bedroom apartment.
Also proposed are 10 visitor car spaces, four motorcycle spaces, bicycle parking and a rooftop communal terrace.
A 3.5m fall across the land from south-west to north-east has shaped the basement, lower-ground and podium design.
The house at 15 West Botany Street is a part-one, part-two-storey house with an excavated garage and rear outbuilding.
Number 17 is a two-storey house with a ground-floor garage, while No 19 is a single-storey house with outbuildings and a carport accessed from Duncan Street.
Arncliffe has been marked for higher-density housing since the state rezoned the Arncliffe and Banksia precincts in 2018 to support more homes, better transport links and renewal along the Princes Highway corridor.
Planning documents for the broader precinct identified capacity for about 5000 new homes across houses, townhouses and apartments.
West Botany Projects had an earlier proposal further along the same road refused by Bayside Council in 2023.
The refused scheme for 67-73 West Botany Street proposed 58 apartments and basement parking on a 2208sq m consolidated site, with the panel citing height, heritage, design excellence, public interest and precedent concerns.
By comparison, the new application has fewer apartments but uses the affordable housing bonus to reach 40m without a height variation request.
Basement excavation would reach up to 9.75m below ground and intersect groundwater, requiring separate water approval.
Vehicle access is proposed from West Botany Street, a classified road, so Transport for NSW must review the driveway.
Sydney Airport’s aircraft-noise planning area covers the site, while nearby vehicle-related uses include a tyre business to the rear and a petrol station further north.
A contamination report found asbestos in shallow fill and elevated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons within national assessment levels.
