Parramatta Leagues Club site to transform into entertainment quarter with hotel, restaurants, units
Sydney’s west will become home to an “unparalleled” entertainment and residential precinct, with Parramatta Leagues Club set to be transformed in a $300m revamp. Take a look.
December 17, 2024 - Parramatta Advertiser
Sydney’s west will become home to an “unparalleled” entertainment and residential precinct, with Parramatta Leagues Club set to be transformed in a $300m revamp. As part of a “Parramatta Live’’ masterplan, the precinct will host a new clubhouse for the leagues club’s 65,000 members, a hotel, a culinary hub and youth facility to transform the site flanking CommBank Stadium. Club officials have unveiled grand plans for the three-stage project which could see the completion of the clubhouse and a 1000-capacity theatre by 2028. To ensure trading continues throughout construction, the existing clubhouse will not be demolished until the following year and is set to be replaced with a 150-room, 12-storey hotel with a swimming pool under stage 2. The four-star hotel, with rooms overlooking O’Connell St and the stadium, will house a 450sq m youth hub and community centre on the lower levels. A gymnasium, and bowling and arcade games, are also earmarked for the project with plans expected to be lodged with Parramatta Council early next year.
Under the third stage of the development, a theatre will be constructed next to the stadium and two buildings with 100 apartments will replace “The Bronx” unit block, completing the final piece of the masterplan by 2034. More than 6000sq m of open space will provide a “backyard” for the people of North Parramatta. “There’s nothing like this in western Sydney,’’ Parramatta Leagues Club president Greg Monaghan said. “It will be such a vibrant community space, eating and dining, and tied into CommBank Stadium. It’s begging to be developed.’’ The club owns most of the land on the site, which the Parramatta Park Trust and Venues NSW also partially own.
The club envisages the redevelopment to provide entertainment for North Parramatta daily, not just after an NRL match.
Already home to the Eels and Western Sydney Wanderers, Mr Monaghan said CommBank Stadium would host the Matildas more frequently and the redevelopment would complement events.
“We’re really aiming to complement whatever’s happening in the stadium so if there’s a big concert in the stadium, if it’s packed, we expect here to be packed as well,’’ Mr Monaghan said.
“But it’s not just intending to be an event-day experience, it’s intending to be a seven-day-a-week for people who live here and visitors.’’ He said the existing leagues club, founded by Jack Argent and Jack Boyle in 1956, had passed its use-by date.
“Unfortunately it’s time to hit the road Jack,’’ he said. The original hotel proposed 17 storeys with 209 rooms but Mr Monaghan plans were modified to ensure no new buildings eclipsed the top of the existing multistorey carpark and were sensitive to heritage guidelines for the Parramatta Female Factory nearby. The precinct’s redevelopment has been sidelined for several years after first surfacing in 2015 when a $100m proposal was revealed. However, upzoning changes announced for North Parramatta last year have signalled renewed confidence for the club’s redevelopment. NSW Premier Chris Minns endorsed changes that will allow buildings to reach 30 storeys along Church St – two thirds the size of existing height limits in the Parramatta CBD.
Now the club’s redevelopment is gathering pace to support the population boom. “It’s a much bigger vision than just a hotel than we had in the past,’’ Mr Monaghan said. “We’re reimagining the whole area. It’s so exciting. “I really think we can bring something that’s unparalleled to our area.’’
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