South-West Sydney 407-Unit Project Pushed Through Courts

Developer Lateral Estate has secured approval for its 407-unit project in Liverpool after a lengthy experience at the Land and Environment Court. 

Lateral Estate wants to build a dual-tower project at 31-33 Shepherd Street in Liverpool, having submitted plans for the site in 2023.

The Zetland developer proposed 341 residential apartments and 66 co-living homes over basement parking at one of the last riverfront sites in the Shepherd Street Precinct, according to its original development application.

But Liverpool Council failed to assess the project in time and it was deemed refused.

Lateral Estate decided to take it to the Land and Environment Court.

In eight conciliation conferences starting in June 2024, it compromised on numerous issues raised by the council. 

Liverpool Council argued that contentious issues included floor space ratio exceedance and excessive building height, with not enough separation between the buildings, which Lateral Estate amended in the updated DA submitted to the court. 

The project proposes Building A as reaching approximately 22 levels, and Building B, 27 storeys, and had requested this deviation from the standard in mid 2024.

▲ Lateral Estate’s original designs for Shepherd Street, filed in 2023.

The court reasoned that the building height allowed a reduction in site coverage, and thus more resident and visitor amenity. 

But flooding proved to be one of the most contentious issues, and the council requested further information in the form of flood modelling and an evacuation plan. 

It was ultimately agreed that the court should uphold the appeal and grant development consent to an amended DA. 

The court agreed that it would provide a high concentration of housing and offered a variety of housing types.

While the Shepherd Street project is by far Lateral’s largest upcoming project, it has co-living projects in the works at Sydney’s Bourke Street, 112 apartments planned at 45 Ralph Street in Alexandria and another 52 apartments in the works at Kogarah. 

Co-living is also an emerging residential trend in Sydney, with developers looking to mixed-tenure projects to ensure affordability while balancing feasibility.