The announcement describes a $3.2 billion waterfront village. The documents lodged with the department describe something more specific: eight tower envelopes, a rezoning running at the same time as the application, and a list of public works the developer wants to build rather than pay for.
Billbergia’s Rhodes Bay Masterplan went on public exhibition on 15 September 2026. Submissions close on 13 October.
The application is SSD-89441959, lodged by Leeds Investment Pty Ltd and sitting in the City of Canada Bay local government area on the northern tip of the Rhodes peninsula. The planning portal classifies it as HDA Housing, which is the department’s label for projects running through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway. It covers 14 lots across Leeds Street and Averill Street, a site the developer has been assembling for years.
The headline numbers have been public for months. What is new is the paperwork underneath them, and the paperwork is where the program actually lives.
The application on exhibition is a concept, not a construction start
The exhibited proposal is a concept application with one detailed stage attached. The concept sets eight residential tower envelopes ranging from 8 storeys to 40 storeys, a total of 1,720 dwellings and 197,223 square metres of gross floor area, of which 9,573 square metres is non residential. It fixes land use structure, built form parameters and the order the stages come in. It does not approve buildings in stages 2, 3 and 4. Those return later as separate detailed applications.
Only Stage 1 is a detailed application. That is three towers of 28, 35 and 40 storeys carrying 800 apartments, 4,073 square metres of retail, recreation and community floor space, and a consolidated basement holding 1,118 car spaces. The Estimated Development Cost lodged for Stage 1 is $712.5 million including GST. For the concept as a whole it is $2.06 billion including GST, which is a different measure to the $3.2 billion investment figure used in the announcement.
The dwelling count has also moved. When Billbergia lodged the application in December 2025 the figure was more than 1,800. The letters of offer prepared in September 2025 used 1,870. Earlier concept material used around 2,020 across nine buildings. The exhibited figure is 1,720 across eight. Yield on a concept site is not a fixed quantity until the envelopes are locked, and that is exactly what this application is for.
Why the project needs a rezoning at the same time
The application is not only a development application. It carries a concurrent rezoning proposal seeking amendments to the Canada Bay Local Environmental Plan 2013, covering land zoning, height of building and floor space ratio controls. Some of the proposed envelopes sit above the height limits currently applying to the land.
Under the conventional route, the rezoning would be settled first and the development application would follow. The HDA pathway allows both to run together. The project was declared State significant by Ministerial Order on 17 February 2025, following a Housing Delivery Authority recommendation on an expression of interest lodged on 8 January 2025. The Secretary’s environmental assessment requirements followed on 5 September 2025. The environmental impact and rezoning statement was lodged in August 2026.
That is roughly 20 months from declaration to exhibition on a site that still needs its planning controls changed, which is a useful benchmark for anyone watching the same pathway carrying its Chatswood towers and the rest of the large residential pipeline in New South Wales.
The contributions are offers to build, not payments
The announcement puts more than $237 million in contributions toward State and local government infrastructure, including affordable housing. The exhibited documents set out how that is proposed to work, and the answer is mostly construction rather than cash.
Two letters of intent sit in the appendices, both marked for discussion purposes. The State letter, dated 8 September 2025, offers to deliver the Leeds Street Foreshore Park and promenade, including public domain, landscaping, recreation facilities and seawall works, then dedicate the completed land to council. The initial estimate for those works is approximately $87 million, excluding contingencies, escalation and professional fees. Billbergia proposes the value be treated as State works in kind, offsetting Housing and Productivity Contribution obligations estimated at around $60.1 million across seven of its sites totalling 5,012 dwellings.
The local letter puts the expected section 7.11 obligation at approximately $35.5 million and offers to design, construct and dedicate a list of local items instead. That list includes a 900 square metre community venue with a 500 square metre library, two multi purpose courts, a new left turn lane at Averill Street and Concord Road, intersection widening, pedestrian links and street upgrades. The developer seeks credits equal to the agreed value of the works, with any gap paid to council in cash.
Two letters of intent sit in the appendices, both marked for discussion purposes.
None of it is settled. The environmental impact statement says the intent is to progress discussions during assessment, with agreements in place before determination. Alongside that, an affordable housing contribution equal to 5 per cent of total residential floor area is proposed as stock within the development, held in perpetuity and managed by a community housing provider under private ownership.
What is a works in kind agreement?
A works in kind agreement lets a developer build a piece of public infrastructure instead of paying a monetary development contribution. The agreed value of the works is credited against the contribution the project would otherwise owe, and any shortfall is usually paid in cash. In New South Wales these arrangements are negotiated with the consent authority or council, often through a voluntary planning agreement under section 7.4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, and are typically settled before a development application is determined.
The delivery clock is the tightest part of the proposal
The environmental impact statement says all Stage 1 dwellings are expected to be delivered before the June 2029 National Housing Accord milestone, and that the applicant has committed to commencing construction within one year of receiving consent. The announcement says works are expected to start on site late in 2027, subject to approvals.
Those two statements sit next to each other in the public record. Between them is 800 apartments in three towers of up to 40 storeys, on remediated former industrial land, with a basement for 1,118 cars underneath.
Canada Bay carries a five year target of 5,000 new dwellings, so a single stage here represents a sixth of the local government area’s task on its own.
The statewide picture explains why the department is moving these projects. At 1 September 2026, 492 proposals had been declared State significant through the HDA, representing more than 152,000 potential homes. Twenty had been approved, unlocking more than 4,000 homes, and 10 had started construction. Another 71 applications had been lodged for around 26,180 homes, and 28 declarations had been revoked where timelines were missed or applicants walked away. That gap between what is declared and what is under way is where the national pipeline is actually sitting right now.
What the work looks like for the people building it
The environmental impact statement puts the masterplan at up to 1,099 construction jobs and 402 ongoing jobs once operating.
The scope behind those numbers is broader than three towers. The site is former industrial land, so it carries a remediation action plan, acid sulfate soils and salinity work, groundwater and contamination investigations. There is seawall work, a foreshore park, civil engineering and utility augmentation, a consolidated basement, and nearly 9,600 square metres of non residential space across the precinct to be fitted out under separate applications.
The apartment mix is worth noting too. Stage 1 runs 181 one bedroom apartments, 311 two bedroom, 298 three bedroom and 10 four bedroom. Three bedroom and larger stock accounts for 38.5 per cent of the stage, which is a heavier weighting toward larger apartments than most high rise product carries.
Construction hours sought are 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm Saturday, with no work on Sundays or public holidays.
Where it goes next
Submissions close on 13 October 2026. After that the department collates submissions, the applicant responds, and assessment runs to a recommendation and determination. The rezoning and the planning agreements have to land before any of that concludes.
For everyone watching the large residential pipeline, the pattern here is the one worth holding on to. The announcement is the yield and the render. The exhibited documents are the sequence, the credits and the conditions, and they are the part that decides when anything is actually built.
Frequently asked questions
It is a mixed use redevelopment of 14 lots at Leeds Street and Averill Street, Rhodes, in the City of Canada Bay. The exhibited concept proposes eight residential tower envelopes of 8 to 40 storeys, 1,720 dwellings and 9,573 square metres of non residential floor space, alongside public open space and a foreshore park. The application number is SSD-89441959.
Public exhibition runs from 15 September 2026 to 13 October 2026. Submissions are made through the NSW Planning Portal during that period.
Stage 1 is a detailed application for three towers of 28, 35 and 40 storeys containing 800 apartments, made up of 181 one bedroom, 311 two bedroom, 298 three bedroom and 10 four bedroom apartments, plus 4,073 square metres of retail, recreation and community space and 1,118 car spaces.
Some of the proposed building envelopes sit above the height and floor space controls currently applying under the Canada Bay Local Environmental Plan 2013. The Housing Delivery Authority pathway allows a rezoning proposal to be assessed at the same time as the development application rather than beforehand.
Two draft letters of intent are exhibited. The State letter offers to build the Leeds Street Foreshore Park and promenade, initially estimated at around $87 million excluding contingencies, as works in kind against Housing and Productivity Contribution obligations estimated at roughly $60.1 million across seven Billbergia sites. The local letter puts the expected section 7.11 obligation at about $35.5 million and offers local works including a community venue and library, two multi purpose courts and road upgrades in exchange for credits. Both are drafts, with agreements to be settled before determination.
Last updated 16 September 2026. Figures reflect the exhibited application documents for SSD-89441959 and departmental releases current at that date.
General information only. This article reports on a development application currently under assessment and is not legal, planning or financial advice. Figures and timeframes are those stated in the exhibited documents and may change through the assessment process.
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