Landcom and Sydney Metro have today announced that local developer Deicorp has been appointed to develop the Doran Drive, Castle Hill Showground site, which is one of three development lots that make up the Hills Showground Station precinct.

Landcom CEO John Brogden said that the concept proposal for the Doran Drive site comprises around 450 apartments with a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, including around 20 dwellings dedicated to affordable rental housing.

“Our vision for the site is for a thriving local mixed-use centre that provides a walkable, lively place to live and play, with diverse housing options for different generations and lifestyles,” Mr Brogden said.

“The Doran Drive Showground site has some unique qualities that will make it particularly appealing for future residents given its close proximity to the much loved Castle Hill Showground and local employment areas, as well as state of the art Metro North West Line.”

Mr Brogden said the site also included up to 10,000sqm of non-residential space which can accommodate a supermarket, spaces for shops and businesses and a village plaza.

Rebecca McPhee, Sydney Metro’s Deputy Chief Executive – Customer, Operations & Place Making, said as well as delivering turn-up-and-go metro rail services for Sydney’s North West, Sydney Metro has a responsibility to deliver great places that integrate with metro stations.

“It is exciting to see these first steps towards creating a vibrant new precinct at Hills Showground, through our partnership with Landcom,” Ms McPhee said.

Deicorp CEO Fouad Deiri said that he is looking forward to working with Landcom during the concept planning stage and beyond.

“Deicorp has a strong track record of success in delivering transit oriented developments for a range of communities and has been entrenched in the North West for almost a decade,” Mr Deiri said.

“We are excited to work with Landcom, the Hills Shire Council and the wider community to shape the concepts proposed for the site.

“Deicorp is very conscious of the reputation of the Hills as the ‘Garden Shire’ of Sydney and our approach is to deliver design outcomes that will achieve a minimum 5 star Green Star Rating to minimise the urban heat island effect and create walkable, liveable open spaces that contribute to the ‘Garden Shire’ vista.”

Mr Brogden said that construction of the Doran Drive site is expected to commence from 2022 and approximately 1200 jobs will be created over the construction period, with around 400 potential jobs created through the future retail and commercial spaces.

The Hills Showground Station precinct is part of the Sydney Metro Northwest Places program which stretches from Rouse Hill to Epping and will deliver up to 11,000 new dwellings (including affordable housing) as well as spaces accommodating up to 15,000 new jobs across the rail corridor.