Star Capital Pursues Midrise After $35m Mosman Deal
A development site has changed hands at Mosman—the epicentre of the backlash against Sydney’s low and midrise reforms— for $35 million, paving the way for a luxury apartment play.
The prime site at 5-9 Bond Street was sold by Colliers to Star Capital with a straight contract of sale and a nine-month settlement period.
The agents said it marked a “significant milestone for the Mosman market” under NSW’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing policy, introduced last year.
A 27-unit development application for the site was submitted to the Mosman Council late last year.
The $23.9-million plans rely on the low and midrise housing provisions that allow increased height and floor space ratios, resulting in higher density in areas within 800m of designated town centres.
The plans by BHMP Group detail a “high-quality, medium-density” development 400m from the Spit Junction town centre.
The three lots Star Capital acquired total 1724sq m, and are currently home to low-density single houses and two smaller apartment blocks.
If approved, those buildings would make way for the apartments, the majority of which are of three-bedroom but with options for one to four bedrooms. Six three-bedroom adaptable units, and parking for 53 cars, are also part of the plans.
Mosman has been at the centre of issues over the government’s Low and Mid-Rise policy.
A resident of the suburb is taking action against the state through the NSW Land and Environment Court over the policy.
The Mosman Council, while not openly joining the case, appears to have the policy in its sights, making the unprecedented move to list every LMR project in the area on its website.
Star Capital’s project received 52 published submissions after it was placed on notification in December, with issues from traffic to overdevelopment of the site cited.
Despite the issues at Mosman, home to one of the councils described by Premier Chris Minns as the “most intransigent and difficult” in the state, demand from developers has remained strong.
Colliers said that the campaign for the Bond Street site acquired by Star Capital was “highly competitive”.
It had “attracted strong interest from major residential developers, institutional groups and high-quality builder-developers seeking to enter the Mosman market,” Colliers said.
The result reflected a depth of demand for “well-located sites, but also the market’s confidence in the new planning framework”, according to Colliers national director for residential Guillaume Volz.
“Importantly, it demonstrates that policy-enabled deals are transacting and settling,” Volz said.
The transaction was one of the first significant sales completed under the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, Colliers said, and highlighted how planning reforms were reshaping Sydney’s development landscape.
The Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy introduced opportunities that didn’t exist previously, Volz said, “unlocking opportunities for premium, well-located sites that appeal to downsizers and high-quality developers”.
And while there had been public debate around increased density in established suburbs, the market response had been clear, Colliers associate director of development sites Marina Corvalan said.
“Developers are underwriting these changes, sites are trading and projects are moving forward,” she said.
Sites in Mosman come at a premium, however, with median prices for single homes in the area at $5.8 million.
“Mosman is undergoing a structural shift after decades of limited redevelopment,” Corvalan said.
“We’re seeing distinct sub-precincts emerge and pricing benchmarks stabilise, creating confidence for developers to deliver a new standard of product that will shape the area for years to come.”
