Clutch Wins Shoptop Approval as Bondi Beach Runs Hot

Sydney-based eastern suburbs developer Clutch has won approval for 15 luxury apartments in Bondi, less than 300 metres from Australia’s most famous beach.

The New South Wales Land and Environment Council (LEC) agreed to the three-storey shoptop development last week after a mediation session with Waverley City Council.

Clutch said it expected to begin construction late next year on the 2080sq-m site at 141-155 Curlewis Street.

A mix of older residential and retail buildings—all between one and three storeys—will be demolished to make way for the development, which will include seven retail tenancies, three of which will front Curlewis Street.

Two basement levels—one for residents and the other for commercial customers—will provide parking for a total of about 50 vehicles.

It is the third time Clutch, which has projects in Rose Bay, Bellevue Hill, Bondi and Double Bay, has worked with PBD Architects.

Twelve of the apartments will have three bedrooms, and range in size from 171 to 189 square metres. Three penthouse apartments will have floor spaces of more than 300 square metres.

▲ The approved development will include 15 luxury apartments and seven retail tenancies.

The developer will amalgamate four lots to house the project. Online records show the property was put together in two transactions of $14.25 million and $55.25 million.

Clutch’s senior development manager Nick McCarthy said the developer intended to retain long-term control of the retail element.

“Too often do you see developers sell off their retail and the future owners then do not concern themselves with the adaptability and synergy of the residents above,” he said.

“We wish to address that by controlling the retail and curating a precinct that the community and the future occupants can enjoy together.”

Clutch went to the LEC for mediation after 42 days had passed since the application was lodged, thus triggering a “deemed refusal process.”

“Generally we take all out projects to the LEC, more so for certainty while working with council,” McCarthy said. “We can work with them a lot better through a Section 34 mediation process than with RFIs (request for information) going back and forth.

“There’s probably two reasons we normally do that—one is time and the other is certainty of an outcome.”

▲ Central Element has paid $51 million for the site which runs between Sandridge Street and Bondi's famed cliff-top walk.

Bondi Beach has been going through something of a revitalisation in the past 18 months, marked by the reopening of the Bondi Pavilion—a near century-old hub for the beach community—after a $48-million heritage restoration.

Just this week independent Sydney property developer Central Element announced it had acquired three lots totalling about 2000sq m with panoramic views of the beach.

Central Element paid $51 million for the site at 20-22 Sandridge and 21 Wilga streets, and now intends to develop what it described as “a limited number of ultra-premium apartments and houses.”

Prices, the developer said, would start at about $20 million.

The deal was brokered by Ric Serrao and Alex Lyons from Raine and Horne.

“The Bondi Beach market is one of the most exciting in Australia at the moment, attracting affluent buyers from lucrative industries such as tech, fashion and finance,” Serrao said.

“Apartments are commanding more than $100,000 per square metre, with the recent sale of Notts Avenue to Andrew Roberts, former managing director of Multiplex, achieving in excess of $125,000 per square metre.”

Central Element expects to lodge a development application by the end this year, with construction expected to start by 2026.