A former mayor has applied to the Cumberland City Council to build a 14-story, US$38 million mixed-use tower across six adjoining lots in Lidcombe, west of Sydney. Privately-held Sydney developer Marque Eight wants to take advantage of a recent change in height restrictions to build to the maximum 45 meters above the 2,441-square-meter property on the corner of Marsden and Mark streets.
A key element of Marque Eight’s application before the council is that four floors of the building will be given over to 84 rooms under a co-living plan, which will include common break-out areas, and some shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.
Another eight floors will house a mix of 100 residential apartments, while three commercial tenants and another two offices will fill the ground floor. Three underground levels will provide parking for 162 cars.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission records confirm that the sole director of Marque Eight Pty Ltd is Ronney Oueik, who was mayor of Auburn City Council twice—for two years from September 2010 and then again for a year between 2014 and 2015.
In May of 2016 the New South Wales government merged nine councils within the state and created 19 new ones. A big part of Auburn Council together with the Woodville ward of Parramatta City and most of the Holroyd City Council became Cumberland City Council.
Marque Eight acquired five lots for a total US$18 million in January of 2015. It bought a sixth adjoining lot, adding another 405 square meters, for US$3.1 million about 17 months later. Three houses and a factory are on the parcel, which under the latest application will all be demolished.
Cumberland approved a previous request for a 10-story, mixed-use building including 149 apartments in November 2017, but construction never began.
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