Take Two for Potts Point Apartments After Council Rejection

A developer is taking another crack at a Potts Point luxury development after a council rejection led to a trip to the Land and Environment Court. 

ERD 1 Pty Ltd has submitted an amended application to the City of Sydney Council to develop its eight-storey project in the blue riband suburb. 

The company lists Edward Doueihi, founder of Ceerose Developments, as its director. 

A development application for the 117 Victoria Street site was lodged with the council in 2023, but was refused a year later. 

At the time, the council said that, amongst other issues, the proposal had not considered the retention of existing affordable rental housing. 

Therefore it failed “to encourage the growth and diversity of the residential population” by providing a range of housing, including affordable, the council said. 

The developer appealed the rejection with the LEC in October 2024, and the project is going through the appeals process.

The development application is being renotified with amended plans based on “numerous” discussions with the consent authority. 

The most recent plans for the $36.5 million project now deliver infill affordable housing, with seven units allocated as affordable.

▲ Rendering of the Potts Point development at Victoria Street.

This equates to a gross floor area of 586sq m or 15 per cent of the total floor area. 

In total, it will deliver 25 units between one and four bedrooms. 

There will be parking for 23 cars across three levels, with communal open spaces, and landscaping throughout the site.

The site is 300m walking distance to the entry of Kings Cross Railway Station and is therefore in an ‘accessible area’, capable of benefiting from the Housing SEPP bonuses.

The Koichi Takada Architects-designed project, which underwent a competitive design process, has also been amended to improve “the siting, location and character of form” compared with previous designs.  

Certain areas of Potts Point have proven tricky to develop, with other projects heading to court in recent years including Thirdi and Toohey Miller’s project at Brougham Street, which won approval in 2023. 

Elsewhere, Time & Place also launched a Land and Environment Court appeal last year for its nine-storey Macleay Street development.