Brew with a view? Queens Road tower plan goes ahead without the microbrewery

Plans for a 20-storey tower between Queens Road and Spencer Street have gateway approval from the state, which lets the block be redeveloped without its corner neighbour. The 3,151 square metre site at 79–81 Queens Road and 2–8 Spencer Street runs along William Street and is now home to car workshops and old warehouses. The 2022 Parramatta Road corridor rezoning allowed buildings up to 67 metres there, but only if it was redeveloped together with the corner block at 10–12 Spencer Street, where there are more workshops and a microbrewery. The landowner tried several times to bring the neighbour in, without luck. So the proposal splits the block in two. The main site keeps its 67-metre height limit, and the corner drops to 19 metres. The concept shows a 20-storey tower on William Street facing Spencer Street and a five-storey building on Queens Road, with 82 apartments and four shops on the ground floor. The corner could later take a five-storey building with about 16 apartments. Canada Bay Council and its local planning panel both backed the proposal. It's a change to the planning rules, not a building approval: a development application would still need to be lodged and assessed before anything is built. Source: The Sydney Development Journal