ASX-listed Mirvac and joint venture partner John Holland have lodged plans for Waterloo Metro Quarter over-station development project in Sydney’s inner south.

The AU$900 million (US$713 million) mixed-use precinct, delivered in collaboration with the NSW government, comprises a 35,000-square-meter, 17-story office building, 24-story apartment building and a 25-story student accommodation building set to be operated by Iglu.

At least 5 percent of the units in the towers will be affordable housing and 70 apartments would be set aside for social housing.

The project sits within the Waterloo State Significant Precinct, a 20-hectare area in central Sydney that has been identified for urban renewal.

It is bounded by Botany Road, Cope Street, Raglan Street and Wellington Street.

The proposal includes more than 2,200 square meters of public open plazas, retail laneways, and community space.

The consortium said it had worked closely with local community groups to create the place-making strategy to support its development application which will be on public exhibition until early December 2020.

Mirvac chief investment officer Brett Draffen said the project now offered the developer the chance of generating better social outcomes for the whole community.

“By providing more options for people to work closer to home, our design gives careful consideration to supporting post-Covid-19 lifestyles and the needs of future generations.”

“With more people choosing to work closer to home in lower density, green environments, Waterloo Metro Quarter is designed to unlock the value of the metro,” Draffen said.

The precinct will be supported by a 2,200 square meter childcare center and health services on site, alongside retail laneways, dining and 2,200 square meters of public open plazas for a range of community uses.

John Holland chief executive Joe Barr said the project would create much-needed jobs at a critical time for the economy.

The project is scheduled to be completed at the same time as the opening of the Sydney Metro City and Southwest line—connecting a new route under the central business district with the existing Bankstown Line—in 2024.

The state government projects the development will generate up to 600 construction jobs and an estimated 3,500 when completed.

The Metro Quarter project will be integrated with the new Waterloo Station and be another marker in the series of over-station developments in Sydney.

Canada’s Oxford Properties is pressing ahead with a 65,000 square meters of over-station development at Pitt Street, while Deicorp is building the metro station precinct at Tallawong Station, the last station of the northwest arm of the metro line.

Office landlord Investa is considering approaching Macquarie Group to buy its under-construction skyscraper above the new Metro station at 39 Martin Place in Sydney, understood to be in the price range of about AU$850 million (US$673 million).

Macquarie had previously been close to selling the development to ISPT for approximately AU$1 billion (US$790 million), but the deal fell over in what was the highest-profile real estate casualty of the pandemic.

For more on this story, go to The Urban Developer.