ApartmentsVanessa CrollTue 16 Jun 26
Neutral Bay Apartment Ban Reversal Unlocks Vatera’s $52m Proposal
Three years after new apartment buildings were prohibited on the site, a Sydney developer has returned with a $52-million proposal more than twice the height it originally pursued.
Vatera Developments wants to replace 10 homes across four Neutral Bay properties, on Sydney’s Lower North Shore about 3km north of the CBD, with an eight-storey building of 37 apartments.
The privately owned developer-builder was established in Sydney in 1981 and manages development and construction in-house, with projects concentrated across the Lower North Shore, eastern suburbs and Northern Beaches.
Its latest plans cover 26-28 Barry Street and 17-19 Lindsay Street, where two late-Victorian houses and two Inter-war brick apartment blocks, each containing four homes, would be demolished.
Vatera first sought greater development capacity in 2022, asking the North Sydney Council for high-density zoning and a 12m height limit across those properties plus neighbouring 15 Lindsay Street.
The council declined the site-specific change, citing fragmented ownership and unassessed impacts, before prohibiting new apartment buildings across medium-density residential land in May 2023.
New South Wales reopened the pathway in February 2025 through its Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms, allowing qualifying sites near Neutral Bay town centre to reach 22m with a 2.2:1 floor-space ratio.
Vatera’s 10 per cent affordable-housing component adds a 20 per cent state bonus, lifting the available envelope to 26.4m and 2.64:1.
The current application excludes 15 Lindsay Street, which formed part of the earlier rezoning request.
PBD Architects’ scheme carries 5510.7sq m of floor space across about 2080sq m, with 29 three-bedroom and eight two-bedroom apartments.
No one-bedroom homes are proposed.
Affordable floor space would occupy the ground and first levels, while the top floor carries one three-bedroom residence with private open space and a plunge pool alongside rooftop communal space.
Two basement levelsn would provide 62 car spaces, seven motorcycle bays and 41 bicycle spaces.
Ground-floor and rooftop communal areas total 447.9sq m, with landscaping across 36.8 per cent of the site and deep soil covering 20.1 per cent.
Across Lindsay Street, the heritage-listed St Joseph’s Catholic Church complex was developed in stages from 1906 to 1941.
Weir Phillips Heritage said stepped upper levels, setbacks and landscaping would preserve the church’s visual prominence.
The development application will be exhibited from June 24 to July 8.
Vatera’s proposal joins plans for 20 apartments at 19-21 Barry Street and 45 at 54-64 Barry Street, taking three current schemes along one Neutral Bay street to 102 homes.
