Borger Warns Sydney’s Olympic Park Risks Missing Housing Moment

Sydney needs housing. Sydney Olympic Park has land, a new masterplan that explicitly backs build-to-rent and a Metro line due to open in 2032. What it does not yet have, according to Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger, are the schools, retail, bus links and walkable streets that turn a transit-connected precinct into somewhere people want to live. As Metro West’s 2032 deadline approaching fast, the window to get it right is narrowing. When Mirvac opened LIV Indigo at Sydney Olympic Park in August 2020, build-to-rent barely had a name in Australia. Five years on, the same precinct is the test of whether the model can work at scale. Last year, Freecity Group proposed 150,000 sq m of build-to-rent, student accommodation and affordable housing on land next to LIV Indigo—a bet that what Mirvac had proven in one building can be replicated across an entire precinct. The Freecity sites at 3 Figtree Drive and 6 Herb Elliott Avenue total 2.13ha and were acquired for $90.88 million from GPT Group, which had held a 5.1ha leasehold across five sites in the Central Precinct for years without progressing development. The sale was part of a broader GPT portfolio rationalisation that also included North Sydney and Parramatta holdings sold to the same buyer. According to the Sydney Olympic Park Business Association, 150,000 sq m of Freecity’s potential 190,000 sq m redevelopment would be allocated to build-to-rent, student accommodation and affordable housing. A hotel, offices and retail make up the balance. Sydney Metro says Freecity, in a consortium with John Holland, is one of three groups shortlisted to design and build the Metro West station itself. The contract is expected to be awarded by the middle of this year. If successful, Freecity would be the precinct’s largest private build-to-rent landowner and a builder of the infrastructure its investment depends on. ▲ A rendering of an aerial view of the proposed Freecity development at Sydney Olympic Park. Connection is the catalyst Sydney Metro West, due to open in 2032, will connect Olympic Park to the Sydney CBD. Borger suggests that this single piece of infrastructure is key to capital allocation decisions in the precinct right now. “Six years is enough time to get the settings right, but it requires focus and momentum,” Borger tells The Urban Developer . “The Sydney Olympic Park Masterplan lays out a vision for the precinct to evolve into a genuine town centre with housing, jobs and culture alongside its major events role.” “Metro West is the game changer. A 15-minute ride to the Sydney CBD creates the right conditions to deliver thousands of new homes close to transport, jobs and infrastructure. “Sydney Olympic Park isn’t just another parcel of land on a planning map. It sits between Parramatta and the Inner West. It’s already on heavy rail and Metro West is coming. And it hosts everything from State of Origin to global concerts. The bones are there. “More than two decades after the Games, we still haven’t fully realised the potential of the Olympic precinct. The task now is aligning planning and infrastructure so the precinct becomes a thriving community year-round, not just on event days.” From events precinct to thriving suburb The NSW Government’s Masterplan 2050, which completed a public exhibition period in late 2024, proposes up to 13,000 homes and 32,000 jobs at Olympic Park. The plan names build-to-rent alongside affordable housing and student accommodation as desired tenures for the precinct. According to the planning report prepared by SJB Planning on behalf of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA), the plan is geared towards housing, with the priority being to transform Olympic Park from an employment hub into a “thriving suburb”. “For the first time, the parklands and precincts have been envisioned as an interconnected, unified place,” according to SJB Architects. “Masterplan 2050 recognises Sydney Olympic Park’s role not just as an event destination, but as a thriving community hub—one that benefits directly from Metro West and Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2.” When that masterplan was finalised in September 2024, Olympic Park’s residential population was around 3800 people in a suburb meant to house between 25,000 and 30,000 by 2050. Most residential development, according to the planning report, will be delivered from 2030 onwards, once Metro West is operational. Do conditions exist to deliver? The Haslams Neighbourhood, adjoining the Carter Street corridor, has experienced building heights increase from 21m to between 49m and 67 metres. ▲ Sydney Olympic Park metro station will be to the south of the existing Olympic Park Station. In a broader precinct that carries structural constraints which have tested other urban renewal projects, it’s the kind of density uplift that may shift the feasibility calculation for build-to-rent development. A significant portion of land is government-owned and leasehold rather than freehold. The multi-agency approval environment spans SOPA, Sydney Metro and the Department of Planning. Separately, the retail and amenity base that institutional-grade build-to-rent revenue depends on remains thin ahead of the Metro opening. SOPA’s 2050 Place Vision and Strategy commits explicitly that no further residential land will be sold freehold beyond existing commitments, suggesting that build-to-rent via ground lease may be the only model government is willing to deal on. “Recognising build-to-rent in the master plan is a positive signal that planning frameworks are adapting to new housing models,” Borger says. “Investors ultimately respond to certainty and delivery. Clear planning pathways, consistent policy settings and projects getting built are what build real confidence.” Institutional capital taking notice In late 2025, Australian Retirement Trust acquired a 48.5 per cent stake in Mirvac’s $1.7-billion LIV Mirvac Fund. That includes LIV Indigo at Olympic Park which, according to Mirvac, was the super fund’s first domestic build-to-rent investment. “What institutional capital wants is certainty around transport, amenity and long-term planning,” Borger says. “As the Metro West station approaches completion and the precinct vision becomes clearer, those ingredients will fall into place." “Once that happens, I expect more institutional investment to flow into Olympic Park, just as we’ve seen around other high-capacity transport corridors. “But transport doesn’t end at the station. We need walkability, cycling links, proper bus integration—not just a shiny tunnel and hope for the best.” The question for developers entering Olympic Park now, Borger says, is whether the government machinery surrounding the precinct, however well-intentioned, can move at the speed the Metro West opening demands. “If the first wave of build-to-rent projects succeeds, it will help unlock more institutional capital and accelerate the precinct’s evolution into a full-time community,” Borger says. “Let’s be honest, Sydney needs housing. Olympic Park absolutely has a role to play but delivering apartments without schools, transport capacity and local jobs just creates pressure.”

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