Apartments to Rise on Site of Potts Point’s La Strada

A multi-level apartment complex has been approved for Macleay Street in blue-ribbon Potts Point.

Peter Metzner, the owner of events and fashion PR company The Arc Factory, acquired the 95 Macleay Street site for $8.5 million from Giovanna Toppi, a “trailblazing” restaurateur who died in 2021.

Toppi was the matriarch of famed 1980s and 1990s restaurant La Strada, and the new apartments have been named in its honour. 

The building currently has three ground-floor commercial tenants and two apartments above. 

The development application will allow Metzner to develop the site into four full-floor, three-bedroom apartments of 138sq m to 142sq m, plus a 413sq m two-level penthouse.

Metzner told The Urban Developer that the DA had been challenging but collaborative “and involved robust discussions with the council”, which had resulted in the first multi-level site approved for Macleay Street for more than two decades.

“Much work was completed around view loss and solar access, and relocating the building form on the site to best resolve these matters,” he said. 

▲ The development includes saunas and for the penthouse, a rooftop pool. 

“NSW Heritage undertook a major study of the existing building, which is significantly dilapidated, and the finishes, in particular the brick, were of interest to the council, as were the balcony and landscaping.”

The apartments are valued from $5.4 million to more than $20 million. Two apartments sold in the first three weeks of the sales campaign that launched on March 20.

“Potts Point is a wonderful, well-appointed village to live in and perfect for downsizers. It’s one of Australia’s most cosmopolitan and sophisticated city-fridge living locations,” Metzner said.

Metzner has focused his development on the City of Sydney fringe, completing two multi-level commercial buildings at Surry Hills and Darlinghurst. 

His next development is a waterfront development at Kenneth Street, Tamarama, a project that would deliver three luxury residences in the sought-after area 6km east of the CBD.

Construction of the La Strada residences is due to begin this year and the announcement of who will build it is said to be imminent.

Potts Point continues to be an attractive option for developers, with adaptive reuse plans for heritage terraces, more luxury apartments from Knox Group and a project from Time & Place in the works.