Luxe Apartment Project Filed for Blue-Ribbon Tamarama

Plans have been filed for a luxury apartment block at Tamarama as interest in the sought-after eastern Sydney suburb runs hot. 

Applicant Metric Interiors & Projects has lodged the plans with the Waverley Council for the beachside neighbourhood that is light-heartedly referred to as ‘Glamarama’ thanks to its upmarket homes—and residents. 

The proposals detail a residential flat building of four storeys with semi-subterranean and two basement levels for the site at 10 Carlisle Street.

A previously approved development application for the site—which currently contains a 1960s and 1970s-built apartment block of nine units—proposed partial demolition of the site.

The new application plans are a largely similar project, but include the full demolition of the existing buildings to achieve higher floor to ceiling heights.

It would comprise a single four-bedroom apartment and three three-bedroom units for a total gross floor area of 802 square metres.

▲ The site is about 6.5km south-east of the Sydney CBD and 1.5km from Bondi Junction.

The plans, designed by SRH Architects, will replace a dated building with “a contemporary residential flat building with enhanced internal and external amenity”, the application said.

The filing of the luxury development comes on the heels of the launch of The Dixon, also in Tamarama, which has achieved a record for the suburb with its $20-million penthouse apartment sale. 

The luxury project by STM Realty dand esigned by Mark Shapiro Architects is being marketed by The Rubinstein Group’s Gavin Rubinstein. 

“We’ve already sold two apartments and only two remain at The Dixon—the ground-floor and subfloor penthouse—which of course has the second best view in the block,” Rubinstein said.

“Both sales achieved $70,000 per sq m because it’s such an attractive lifestyle there, and there are no frontrow developments like The Dixon—most are further back from the beach. 

▲ The Dixon has broken suburb records, according to TRG's Gavin Rubinstein.

“It’s rare that opportunities come up [in the suburb] because land has become so hard to get in Sydney and it’s such a huge process. Added to building costs, it makes it hard to get ahead.”

The suburb has a host of older apartment blocks, Rubinstein says, which rarely come to market, as well as a considerable number of high-end homes. 

TRG is also marketing a project at Coogee Beach, another sought-after coastal suburb, dubbed Cove, where the high median apartment prices ensure such projects stack up.

“There, apartments are going for between $2.2 million and $3 million,” Rubinstein said. 

“They are mainly Sydney-based buyers, with a little bit of interest internationally, and it’s got broad demographics—from downsizers to young families, who are all after that beach-chic vibe.”