Sydney-based property and construction group Deicorp has been appointed to develop the Doran Drive site at Castle Hill Showground. Doran Drive is one of three development lots that make up the Hills Showground Station precinct, which have been masterplanned by archietcture firm SJB.

Around 450 apartments in a mix of one, two and three bedrooms, including about 20 affordable housing units will be built on the site.

Landcom CEO John Brogden explained that their vision for the site was 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”.

“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 the state-of-the-art Metro North West Line.”

The site also included up to 10,000sqm of non-residential space to accommodate a supermarket, spaces for shops and businesses, and a village plaza, Brogden added.

In addition to delivering metro rail services for Sydney’s North West, Sydney Metro has a responsibility to deliver great places that integrate with metro stations, says Rebecca McPhee, Sydney Metro’s deputy chief executive – Customer, Operations & Place Making.

Deicorp will be working with Landcom right from the concept planning stage.

Deicorp CEO Fouad Deiri says, “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.

“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.”

Construction work on the site is expected to commence in 2022.