A planning proposal to allow up to 400 apartments on a gateway site to Hurstville will be considered by Georges River Council next week.
The planning proposal is for a 9,240 square-metre corner site at 9 Gloucester Road and 420-430 Forest Road, on the western approach to the Hurstville central business district, known as the Hurstville Office Park.
The council has been recommended to endorse both an amendment to the Hurstville City Centre Development Control Plan and the Planning Proposal for the site.
This would see an increase to the current controls which allow a maximum height of 23 metres.
The proposal calls for a range of heights from 23m, 30m, 40m, 55m and 60-metres, or approximately five to 18 storeys and an increase the floor space ratio from 3:1 to 4:1.
An original Planning Proposal for the site was lodged in 2015 which would have provided between 450 to 475 units.
Since that original proposal, a total of four revised Planning Proposals have been received by the council with variations to the height, commercial space and number of units.
The council received the latest version in August last year and forwarded it to the Department of Planning. The council received a Gateway determination in February this year allow it to put the Planning Proposal on public exhibition.
The latest submitted Planning Proposal calls to increase the non-residential floor space ratio from 0.3:1 to 0.5:1 which will provide for 4,620 square-metres of commercial floor space along with the 400 residential units.
The site's owner, GTB Hurstville has offered to enter into a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with the council to provide a total contribution value of $4,287,000.
This would include a monetary contribution of $3,600,000 for public domain works and public road infrastructure including undergrounding of overhead powerlines outside the site, embellishments to the park, a children's playground and public area art works.
The site is currently occupied by three commercial buildings between two and four storeys in height and with a floor space ratio of 1:1
The Planning Proposal report prepared on behalf of GTB Hurstville describes the site as under-utilised with redundant low density office buildings.
"Redevelopment will ensure the site is not under-utilised given its high level of accessibility to regional and local services, employment and mass public transport," according to the report.
"It is considered that under the current planning controls it is uneconomic to redevelop the site for solely commercial purposes."
Georges River Council is expected to endorse the Planning Proposal and the amendments to the DCP to go on public exhibition for 28 days.
