Platino Adds to 600-Home Sydney Seniors Precinct Again

Platino Properties’s retirement precinct in Sydney’s Northern Beaches continues to expand, with concept and stage 1 approval granted for another 349 independent living units and a residential care facility.

The State Significant Development approval means the Sydney developer may now proceed with developing another six resident-funded buildings up to 13 storeys at 1-3 Skyline Place, Frenchs Forest, over the road from Platino’s Jardin retirement community.

An estimated development cost of $168 million is attached to stage 1, but more is to follow, with $343 million proposed for the overall phase of development. In total, Platino now has more than 600 seniors homes built or under development in the precinct.

The 2.26ha site of the latest proposal, about 14km north of the Sydney CBD, hosts a former Miele warehouse and will generate 51,343sq m of gross floor area at a floor space ratio of up to 2.66:1.

The first stage will include 30,506sq m GFA on 1.14ha of the site, with 195 independent living units and 20 residential care facility rooms. Three buildings of eight, eight, and part-6 and part-13 storeys were approved in stage 1, with design work by Smith & Tzannes and Matthew Pullinger.

The 200 ILUs originally planned, with a 5 per cent affordable component, would consist of 22 one-bedroom units, 47 two-bedroom units, and 131 three-bedroom units. Basement parking will be provided for 326 cars, with two above-ground accessible spaces.

▲ Platino's retirement developments in the precinct include completed, under-construction, and approved projects.

While the developer owns the majority of strata titles at 1 Skyline Place, discussions with other owners have been ongoing since 2023 to enable the rest of the planned development.

Northern Beaches Council raised objections over the height and scale of built form, the intensity of residential use, and the incompatibility of the project with the local SP4 Enterprise zoning, given its location in the Frenchs Forest Business Park.

Platino’s Jardin complex at 5-7 Skyline Place completed its stage 1 in 2023, with 52 senior living homes offered. Stage 2 of that scheme is under construction, with 110 units planned for a late 2026 completion. Marketing for that project is under way, with two-bedroom apartments priced at about $1.8 million and three-bedrooms at $2.3 million.

▲ Massing and setbacks across the precinct were adjusted in response to submissions raised during the exhibition.

Dozens of submissions objecting to the latest proposal were also received from residents or future residents of Jardin, including complaints about traffic and impacts related to ongoing construction at that project.

In response to submissions, Platino conducted updated traffic modelling which found no major impacts would be expected from construction activity or residential use. The proposed height of one building was lowered from 14 to 13 storeys, and setbacks and massing were also adjusted.