‘Elegant’ 11-Storey Bondi Junction Tower Planned

A Sydney developer has reworked and resubmitted plans for an expanded, 11-storey project at Bondi Junction that takes advantage of NSW’s infill affordable planning changes. 

Benefitting from a bigger size than multiple previous development applications for the 7-19 Bondi Road site, the applicant again is Vaucluse-based Constantinos Charalambous, director of Charas Constructions.

MHN Design Union is designing the project for the applicant, Charalambous’s Bondi Road Developments vehicle, with plans from GSA Planning. 

The subject site has had a history of development applications, the most recent a nine-storey development filed in 2022 that was approved by the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel in March, 2023. 

The latest submission to Waverley Council, however, upgrades this previous project by three floors, adding a handful of apartments to bring the number up to 46.

It will deliver the apartments in two buildings connected by a central external lobby, with residential carparking spaces across two levels, motorbike and cycle spaces and a e-bike charging station.

The roof terrace will act as a communal open space, containing a swimming pool, terrace, barbecue area and solar panels.

The ‘elegant’ development also benefits from the infill affordable policy changes brought in by the NSW Government in 2023. 

▲ Render of the former medium-rise residential tower that was approved in 2023.

With 11 of the apartments designated as affordable units, accounting for 15.8 per cent of the proposed floor space, it is allowed a 30 per cent bonus in FSR and building height under the Housing SEPP. 

The new DA takes on board feedback provided by the council and its Design Excellence Advisory Panel, and incorporates the site at 17-19 Bondi Road and this larger site area to achieve “a better planning outcome than the previous schemes”, according to the DA. 

The Bondi Junction site on which the “high-quality, contemporary, and modulated building” will sit is south-east of the Sydney CBD and 300m from Bondi Junction. 

It features low-density homes and residential buildings, while the surrounding area has a mix of uses and varying architectural styles. 

Eastern Sydney suburbs such as Bondi have experienced continued residential growth as developers are able to make high-end apartment projects stack up with elevated apartment prices. 

According to RealEstate.com.au, the median price for Bondi Junction apartments falls at a cool  $1.2 million, with three-bedroom apartments reaching a median $2.2 million.

Home price growth over the winter months has slowed in Sydney, according to the latest data release from PropTrack, yet prices are still up 0.32 per cent.