Work has officially commenced on a 14-storey residential development in Macquarie Park, delivering 141 social and affordable homes designed to keep lower- and moderate-income households embedded within Northern Sydney.
In Short
- Ground Broken: Construction has commenced on a 14-storey residential tower delivering 141 social and affordable dwellings within the Lachlan’s Line master-planned community.
- Key Collaboration: The project is spearheaded by community housing provider Link Wentworth in partnership with Homes NSW, Landcom, and the Commonwealth’s Housing Australia Future Fund.
- Local Impact: Slated for completion in 2028, the Halifax Street complex aims to keep low- and moderate-income workers close to Macquarie Park’s employment and transport hubs.
Located at 6 Halifax Street within Landcom’s master-planned Lachlan’s Line community, the project arrives at a critical juncture for the City of Ryde and the surrounding North Shore corridor. Skyrocketing private rental costs and aggressive state-mandated housing targets continue to place acute pressure on local infrastructure, school catchments, and family budgets across the region.
The development is being spearheaded by Link Wentworth, one of the state’s largest community housing providers, with backing from Homes NSW as an investment partner and capital through Round 1 of the Commonwealth’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). Residents are expected to move into the completed tower from 2028.
Turning the first sod on site on Wednesday, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness Rose Jackson highlighted the necessity of embedding subsidised and secure housing within well-serviced, transport-connected precincts rather than pushing essential workers to the urban periphery.
Federal Member for Bennelong Jerome Laxale joined Link Wentworth Chief Executive Andrew McAnulty and Board Chair Mike Allen OAM to mark the construction milestone. For Bennelong and the wider northern corridor—where thoroughfares like the M2 Motorway, Epping Road, and Delhi Road routinely choke during peak commuter hours—ensuring high-density living is situated within walking distance of North Ryde and Macquarie Park Metro stations remains vital to keeping arterial roads functioning.
Local civic groups and neighbouring communities across Ryde and the Upper North Shore will nonetheless be watching the ongoing delivery of local amenities closely. While the master-planned precinct includes dedicated pedestrian links and connections via the Lachlan’s Line bridge, the steady addition of high-density dwellings will continue to test local parking capacity around Lachlan’s Square Village and place sustained demand on nearby open recreational spaces.
With construction now active, the Halifax Street build represents one of the first projects backed by the HAFF scheme to break ground in Northern Sydney, establishing a key test case for how community housing providers and government agencies coordinate density alongside genuine long-term affordability.
