Trio of Approvals Adds $570m to Fortis Pipeline

It has been quite the start to the new year for Fortis with the developer racking up three approvals across two capital cities to the tune of $570 million.

In Sydney, the Woollahra Planning Panel has approved Fortis’s purpose-built design gallery in partnership with RH that is due to open at 19-27 Bay Street, Double Bay, in late 2025.

Called The Gallery, the developer said it would “integrate artistic installations of luxury home furnishings, an interior design studio with professional design services; and a rooftop restaurant, offering a fine dining experience”.

Fortis acquired the 1027sq m RH Gallery site for $49 million in 2021 and has worked with RH, MHN Design Union and Dangar Barin Smith to create the the $170-million commercial project.

▲ A render of 34-35 South Steyne at Manly. Main image: RH at Double Bay.

Fortis has also secured development approval for 34-35 South Steyne at Manly from the Northern Beaches Council.

Dubbed White Water, construction on the 690sq m site is due to begin in the third quarter of this year to create a commercial and retail development.

“Located in Manly’s retail and dining precinct, the refurbished project will feature three levels of commercial office space with extensive floor plates, superior end-of-trip amenities including a sauna and ice bath, a private rooftop terrace, and ample bicycle, motorcycle and carparking across two basement levels,” the developer said. 

Meanwhile in Melbourne, Fortis’s Wiltshire House, the second tower of its 22,000sq m, two-tower project at Richmond, worth an estimated $320 million, has been greenlit.

▲ A render of Wilshire House at Richmond, Victoria.

The developer has appointed multi-disciplinary design practice SJB as lead architect, having reimagined previously approved plans for the project’s second tower from commercial to residential “in response to the pent-up demand for high-quality residential stock in Melbourne’s inner suburbs”. 

Fortis is the property development arm of Pallas Group and has about $5 billion in projects in construction or being assessed across Australia.