Novus Chatswood BtR Scheme Wins Commission Approval

Plans for a 46-storey build-to-rent project in Sydney’s Chatswood, the developer’s second in the suburb, have been waved ahead on appeal. Novus can now move ahead with its plans after winning NSW Independent Planning Commission approval for one of the last build-to-rent projects referred under previous referral rules. The build-to-rent specialist submitted plans in May 2025 for a 46-storey skyscraper designed by Fender Katsalidis. Under the approval, Novus will demolish buildings on the site at 410-416 Victoria Avenue and develop 260 build-to-rent apartments. The project will deliver high-quality housing in a strategic location with public domain activation and economic benefits, Novus co-founder and chief executive Jason Goldsworthy told The Urban Developer. “It will provide in excess of 200 construction jobs, 100 ongoing operational jobs, and is expected to generate over $12-million in retail goods and services within the Chatswood CBD from our future residents. So a really good thing for the Chatswood CBD,” Goldsworthy said. The 1050sq m site, 50m from the Chatswood transport interchange and 7.8km north-west of the Sydney CBD, is home to small-scale retail and commercial shops. The approved shoptop development will include retail on the first and ground floors of the two to six-storey podium. Amenities in that podium include an outdoor pool with hot and cold plunge pools, gym, coworking facilities, outdoor terrace, and resident lounge and dining areas. Novus on Victoria will comprise 115 studio and 79 one-, 63 two- and 3 three-bedroom units. ▲ A rendering of Novus on Victoria, which was designed by Fender Katsalidis. Novus’s original application said it would improve housing diversity in the Willoughby local government area, bringing in secure tenants with long-term flexible leases. The estimated total development cost for the transport-oriented project is $330 million, according to Goldsworthy. He expects the building will be focused on the higher-end of the market, bringing in young professionals of single or two-person households. “In our operational building in Melbourne, 80 per cent of the building there is aged between 20 and 38, so we envisage that it’s going to be pretty similar here,” Goldsworthy said. “We have Macquarie University in the next suburb over as well so there will be a student cohort that will occupy the building too.” Independent Planning Commission pathway The development received 140 objections and the Willoughby City Council also opposed the application. Because it is a build-to-rent project, the council opposition triggered its transfer to the IPC pathway. A two-member Commission panel then met key stakeholders, undertook a site inspection and held a public meeting, at which it received 154 written submissions. Objectors were concerned with built-form and amenity and view impacts, as well as construction affecting the Chatswood Mall markets. However, the Commission approved the application, saying that it supported the National Housing Accord targets for NSW, of which Willoughby’s allocation is 3400 completed homes by 2029. “While it went to the IPC because it received over 50 objections during [the] department [of] planning advertising period, there ended up being more submissions in support during the IPC advertising period, including of local businesses, store holders from the Chatswood [area] and residents,” Goldsworthy said. ▲ A rendering of the tower approved for 410-416 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. The approval was conditional on Novus providing amended designs for vehicle entry and traffic management during construction, adding public domain works and preparing carparking and loading management plans. It is the second project by Novus to be approved by the IPC, after it gave the developer the green light for its 30-storey Novus on Albert project, also at Chatswood. However, it also could be one of the last. As of October 2025, the NSW Government removed build-to-rent, seniors housing and certain rail corridor developments from being mandatorily referred to the Independent Planning Commission. “Projects like Novus on Victoria with 260 apartments in the Chatswood CBD, stand out like a sore thumb compared to the other cases before the IPC, like wind farms and other big infrastructure projects,” Goldsworthy said. “So, those changes were really welcome.” Build-to-rent rising The approval underscores ongoing momentum in the sector, Goldsworthy said. “There is further work to be done in closing out the last remaining tax and planning policy, but things have been put in place to make it a viable part of the housing continuum, which has been fantastic,” he said. While Victoria has been considered the vanguard of build-to-rent growth in Australia, Sydney is coming up fast, Goldsworthy said. “Sydney is starting to nip at Victoria’s heels and certainly from our point of view, we’re much more weighted to Sydney over Melbourne with our pipeline of projects,” he said. Novus is close to appointing a builder for its other Chatswood project, Novus on Albert, while its Parramatta project is targeting structural top out by the end of 2026. The developer is planning to start on site with the Novus on Victoria project by the end of the year, following pre-commencement works and other authority approvals.

Novus Chatswood BtR Scheme Wins Commission Approval

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