Hong Kong developer Top Spring is hoping its transformation of a big corner site in Sydney’s Double Bay will set a suburban record for luxury apartments when the $200-million project comes to market this week.
Top Spring Australia managing director Sydney Ma said the five-storey Double Bay project, designed by Luigi Rosselli Architects, would include 15 three and four-bedroom apartments.
The three-bedroom apartments, of which there are eight, will start at $9.695 million. The three penthouses are expected to sell for up to $25 million.
“We're getting a very good level of interest, mainly from local purchasers,” Ma told The Urban Developer. “So I think we're expecting to hit some record prices given the scale, quality, location and outlook of this project.”
Top Spring paid $94 million for the 1334sq m corner site in Cross Street, Double Bay, in September last year. The property—held by long-time owners Stephen and Stella Rose—included a development application, already approved by the Woollahra Municipal Council.
It’s that design, of what is now known as Ode, Double Bay, which Top Spring hopes to begin building in the first quarter of next year. Completion would be about two years later. Top Spring expects to name a builder within three months.
A Section 4.55 modification is before Woollahra council waiting approval.
“That modification is mainly seeking to add private rooftops to each of the penthouses,” Ma said. “We expect approval in a couple of weeks.”
The ground floor will include about 600sq m of retail space, which Ma says will be given over to high-end boutiques, food and beverage outlets.
The site is now occupied by Double Bay Plaza—a set of nine, low-rise shops and three commercial spaces.
Top Spring was founded in Hong Kong in 1993 with a focus on residential and commercial development, asset management, fund management and education. Top Spring Australia is a division of Top Spring International, which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March 2011.
A penthouse at 16 William Street, Double Bay, sold for $16 million this year at a record $108,000 a square metre, it was reported.
In May, Sydney-based property groups Fortis and Assembly Funds Management announced they would partner on a mixed-use development to replace the Cross Street Car Park with a cinema complex featuring 9000sq m of retail, community and office spaces, as well as 18 residential apartments.
