Shoptop Plans Filed for Two Northern Beaches Hotspots

Plans for two separate retail precincts have been filed in high-growth Northern Beaches suburbs.

Boutique Sydney development company Balito Investments is plotting a three-storey, mixed-use shoptop development at North Curl Curl, home to one of Sydney’s best surfing beaches and 19km north-east of the CBD.

Planned are five ground-floor retail premises, three independent living units for seniors, and eight residential units on the upper floors in a mix of two, three and four bedrooms.

The DA for the site at 142-146 Pitt Road also seeks to consolidate subject allotments into a single development site totalling 1299 square metres.

A dated two-storey mixed-use shoptop building is on the site now. 

According to the development application, the proposal is “appropriately located to facilities, services and public transport” to provide a “form of accommodation that is perfectly suited for seniors or disabled persons who live in the area”. 

According to architects Warren and Mahoney, the development is an “elegant coming together of retail and commercial uses and high-quality residential units that provide a harmonious relationship between built form and landscape”.

▲ A render of the North Curl Curl proposal. The Northern Beaches population rose 1.7 per cent last year to nearly 270,000.

Meanwhile, another retail-focused project has been filed at Avalon Beach for a site at 1-3 Careel Head Road, about 19km north of the North Curl Curl site. 

The block is within the Careel Head Road Shopping Centre, which would be demolished to make way for the new plan.

Designed by CD Architects with the proponent listed as Jonathan Odiso of the FourJs Group, the proposal details ground-level retail and a 60-place childcare centre on the first floor.

Four retail outlets would be delivered under the plans now before the Northern Beaches Council, with one slated to be a Dan Murphy’s liquor outlet, but as a boutique cellar offering rather than its usual large format retail format.

The childcare centre will offer places for age groups up to five years old.

The facility provides 3.25sq m of indoor play area per child and 7sq m of unencumbered outdoor play area per child, according to the development application.

The development would “positively contribute towards improved localised shopping and service experiences” on a site “well suited for revitalisation, taking advantage of its accessibility and proximity to residential areas, along with significant sporting infrastructure”.

The Northern Beaches has experienced significant growth in recent years.

PRD Data said that in the first quarter of this year, the area recorded a median house price of $495,000 and a median unit price of $360,000, representing annual growth of 10 per cent. 

Total sales grew by 17.1 per cent for houses and by 16.7 per cent for units in the same period, highlighting high demand for both property types.