Co-livingPatrick LauMon 13 Jul 26
Market Units Dumped for 26-Storey Co-Living at Waterloo Metro
A 26-storey co-living tower with 500 apartments is the latest project to win the nod in the makeover of Waterloo Metro Quarter.
The $124-million scheme replaces an approval for a build-to-sell project on the site at 150 Cope Street, part of the over-station development for the Waterloo Metro.
Developer WL Living, a Mirvac and John Holland joint venture, is progressing the project along with the broader $900-million Waterloo Metro Quarter. A 2025 re-think scrapped offices and replaced market apartments with blended living assets across the precinct.
Instead of market and affordable homes, the 2800sq m site will now yield 14,480sq m of co-living space and a 2254sq m childcare centre amid total gross floor area of 17,444 sq m.
The Bates Smart-designed building will target a “growing population of lone and couple person households”.
The co-living housing will produce “a diverse type of accommodation in a high amenity location, and is able to provide a transition for graduating students and has flexibility to help meet overflow,” the proposal said.
The Northern portion of Waterloo Metro Quarter was originally planned to yield 34,000sq m of approved office space. According to the proposal, that scheme received minimal tenant interest despite active marketing since 2020.
An approval for a 17-storey commercial building there is now subject to another proposal, which would replace it with two residential apartment towers.
Meanwhile, Stockland’s 3300-home Waterloo Renewal project continues to the east. In May, a concept plan for the South component of that precinct was exhibited.
Build-to-rent and other alternative living types are becoming more popular in the area just south of the Sydney CBD. In November 2025, Coronation exhibited plans for a $500-million, 850-home build-to-rent precinct at 881-885 Bourke Street. The nine towers at that project would neighbour six under development by DASCO and another by City West.
