Wollongong Shoptop Hero.jpg

Sydney family-owned developer and construction business Level 33 has filed plans for a 19-storey, two-tower shoptop development in the heart of New South Wales’ third biggest city.Level 33’s plans before the Wollongong City Council call for 262 apartments above 1200sq m of retail space with seven separate tenancies.The development—with construction costs estimated around $73 million—will rise above four individual lots at 357 and 363-373 Crown Street, as well as 2 and 4 Gladstone Avenue, in Wollongong. The irregular-shaped parcel totals 6514 square metres.Online documents show Wollongong Investments No. 5 Pty Ltd paid $7 million for 357-359 Crown Street in December 2021. On the same date Wollongong Investments paid between $191,000 and $625,000 for each of the 20 units that make up the strata-titled building at 363 Crown Street.The sole office holder of Wollongong Investments is Eddy Haddad, who is also the director of Level 33.Town planners Planning Ingenuity, which filed the documents, said the two towers—one of 18 levels and the other 19—would sit above a five-storey podium housing retail and commercial tenants as well as parking at ground and lower-ground levels for 318 vehicles.The bulk of the residential element will be made up of 191 two-bedroom apartments. Another 63 will be one-bedroom, with eight of three bedrooms. Ten per cent will be adaptable.BKA Architecture is behind the design.<div id="3N5qhqoMVTE9F47tKPCea0"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6slChIPeY5gPbaGDvuJ1GL/d8ec77a321414ee33557c6b7d28aeabe/Wollongong_Shoptop_Mid.jpg" alt="Online documents show Eddy Haddad's family-owned business Level 33 is behind the development." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6slChIPeY5gPbaGDvuJ1GL/d8ec77a321414ee33557c6b7d28aeabe/Wollongong_Shoptop_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Online documents show Eddy Haddad's family-owned business, Level 33, is behind the development.</div><div> </div></div>All current buildings, including two federation-style houses, will be demolished to make way for the development.In pre-lodgement meetings, Wollongong council officers pointed to a large, heritage-listed Moreton Bay fig tree, which they wanted retained and incorporated into the development. Earliest records show the fig visible in an aerial photo from 1938.An arboriculture impact assessment report said fig trees were known to be tolerant of change, including less sunlight.“Ultimately, all ground works as proposed will improve the growing conditions through the removal of hard surfacing and installation of (permeable) garden and turf beds, significantly increasing water infiltration rates and opening up air and gaseous exchange rates, all which will improve the health of the tree long term,” the report said.Planning Ingenuity said the construction works would have some short-term positive the economic impacts through employment generation in the construction industry, and associated sectors.&nbsp;“In the longer-term, high-amenity living will be provided for the future residents and employment will be generated in the retail sectors,” the town planners said.“Furthermore, the development will significantly increase the number of residents living in close proximity to Wollongong commercial core and this will translate into additional consumers for local businesses and services.”

Sydney family-owned developer and construction business Level 33 has filed plans for a 19-storey, two-tower shoptop development in the heart of New South Wales’ third biggest city.

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Simplify, streamline, escalate, expand, ensure, improve ... and modernise.Those eight words are liberally sprinkled throughout a 144-page discussion paper reviewing Victoria’s planning and building process. The inquiry was headed by economist Anna Cronin, who carries the dubious title of Red Tape Commissioner.The report—released at the end of 2019— made 27 recommendations as to what short and medium-term improvements could be made to the state’s building approvals process, which the commission described as “complex and time-consuming.”But nearly three years after Cronin and her three-person advisory board began their work, frustrated developers and builders are still walking away from deals and going interstate to invest and build.The shortage of qualified planners, the varying levels of expertise within local government, the pace of the rezoning process, and questions over which authorities have what powers are all to blame, according to the industry.Wel.Co is a Melbourne-based developer specialising in building communities.&nbsp;“Look, the planning system in Victoria was probably what made me look to diversify into other states, including Queensland, which has been a really good growth market for us over the last couple of years,” says Wel.Co founder and managing director Andrew Welsh.Wel.Co’s bread and butter has been Melbourne’s Growth Corridor Plans—the Victorian capital’s integrated land use and transport schemes which will decide the region’s growth in the coming decades.But Welsh says they’ve struggled to find value in Melbourne’s growth corridors during the past couple of years.<div id="445XKEC0CBAsPV4P014ya8"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/14KfKCadkDLtXjxxpHd2lv/4cce2578483d955bad9a2b869f531eef/2.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/14KfKCadkDLtXjxxpHd2lv/4cce2578483d955bad9a2b869f531eef/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Wel.Co founder and managing director Andrew Welsh: struggle to find value in growth corridors. </div></div>“It’s not because I think they’re overvalued as a piece of dirt,” he said.“I just think your time to get that lot out of the ground—because of the planning regulations—would have smashed the IRR (internal rate of return) because you only need 12 months to blow out a project that you’re paying good value for, and your IRR is hit.”Welsh says a common hold-up on zoned land is tapping into trunk infrastructure, such as water.&nbsp;“To develop your paddock, you need to show that you can demonstrate an outpour to the ultimate basin or creek, wherever that may be,” he says.&nbsp;&nbsp;“To do that in the growth corridors you’ve got to negotiate with up to 30 landowners, at times, for that access to be granted,” he says.“So, you can imagine the time that takes, and if you have one of those key people in that chain that doesn’t agree, even though on the rezone plan it might say that is where that watercourse needs to go as a natural point.&nbsp;“Current planning controls don’t allow Melbourne water to enact on opening up those properties.”Welsh estimated there are currently as many as 10,000 lots held up across Melbourne growth corridors because of lack of co-ordination between different planning authorities.Boutique residential developer Samuel Property has had its own frustrations with what its managing director described as “the hit and miss” of Victoria’s planning process.Illan Samuel said he had walked away from a property in Ballarat—where he planned a hotel in time for the Commonwealth Games— because he “couldn’t get answers quick enough.”<div id="5CSiLdcKoFckgghTdpMJXa"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6b86X2fOlGhIueP4C4GxA/c60668c1dcfe1e283e0ea072291300d1/5.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6b86X2fOlGhIueP4C4GxA/c60668c1dcfe1e283e0ea072291300d1/5.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Illan Samuel walked away from a Ballarat hotel project because “the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing”. </div></div>“This was prime property in the middle of the Ballarat CBD, we had a short-stay operator lined up who would take the space, so we had the ability to add 50 to 60 rooms to the CBD near the train line near Ballarat hub,” Samuel says.&nbsp;“But the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing, and we just couldn’t get competence to move forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;It took two months to get meetings organised, and ultimately, you can only keep deals together for so long.”Samuel says he is jealous of the system that exists in Queensland.“The code is accessible, where you can get a permit without advertising in four to five months, as long as you tick off the boxes,” he says.“If we ever saw that sort of reform in Victoria, I think we’d see supply come to market much quicker.”In response to questions from The Urban Developer, Ballarat City Council’s director of development and growth Natalie Robertson says comparing its planning scheme with any projects in Brisbane was difficult, because the two states have contrasting planning procedures.“The City of Ballarat had prepared for a pre-application meeting with the applicant (Samuel Property), however, the applicant cancelled before discussions could progress,” Robertson says.Robertson acknowledges the shorting of planning staff was a challenge.“The city shares the state-wide challenge for Victorian councils, particularly in the regions, in terms of attracting and retaining planning staff,” she says.<div id="5bpJqRQPAI7jkiBWUuQDdv"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1suVkBvIlbaxQOhWoiacmM/92890044d8dc2f9334989d6f723e5b84/1.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1suVkBvIlbaxQOhWoiacmM/92890044d8dc2f9334989d6f723e5b84/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A shortage of planners is causing huge problems for the industry in Victoria. </div></div>“We&nbsp;continue to&nbsp;look&nbsp;for&nbsp;diverse ways to attract and&nbsp;retain&nbsp;staff&nbsp;and improve our position within the recruitment market.”That view is echoed by the property industry’s national lobby group.“Some local governments have well resourced, talented, and enthusiastic planning departments, whereas others see massive delays primarily due to understaffing,” Property Council of Australia Victorian executive director Cath Evans says.“If you’re a developer choosing where to invest your money, these issues are often a determining factor in the decision-making process.”Evans wants to see planning studies made more of a priority within tertiary education.“Planning is a highly technical and complicated field of study,” she says, “and while governments have prioritised and incentivised many STEM courses at our universities, planning has not seen the same take-up.”Evans is urging the state government to offer incentives to students to stay in Victoria after finishing their planning studies, using their qualifications to relieve the burden on the planning system.Cronin’s 2020 review of the planning and building approvals process estimated the cost of avoidable delays in what was then a $33 billion construction sector, was probably between&nbsp; $400 million to $600 million a year—or up to 2 per cent of the total value of the sector.The review made 27 recommendations on how to overcome the delays, including “expand the workforce of building surveyors, inspectors and fire safety engineers.”<div id="17QRdLOwaEHRmAQ10v52DD"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3TVFe46BhykeWJ52DfhHEh/1c66e3aea32a91da8ed0fd09fdf56601/4.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3TVFe46BhykeWJ52DfhHEh/1c66e3aea32a91da8ed0fd09fdf56601/4.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Avoidable delays are costing the Victorian economy literally hundreds of millions of dollars. </div></div>Others included streamlining the process for Melbourne’s 119 Precinct Structure Plans (PSPs), reduce response times for referrals, escalate planning for sites of strategic importance ... and improve planning resources for councils.“The differences in capabilities and capacity across local government in Victoria is considerable,” says the PCA’s Evans.&nbsp;But she has some sympathy for the municipalities, saying local government authorities were at the coal face of the Victorian economy, with decisions in council planning departments being some of the most consequential economic decisions impacting prosperity and the built environment.The PCA continues to advocate for the adoption of all 27 recommendations in Cronin’s 2020 inquiry, and to some degree there has been progress since the report’s release.The recommendations were turned into five programs. About $38 million was allocated in the 2020-21 state budget to implement the reform package.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Department of Transport and Planning has created a new online portal for State applications and established regional planning hubs.However, one of the most significant changes—the Development Facilitation Fast Track process—was not identified in the reform recommendations but born out of Covid-19. That process has had some success in kickstarting approvals for major project development.For its part, the Victorian government points to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing Victoria leads the nation in the supply of new homes.The ABS data shows in the 12 months to January 2023, nearly 62,000 new homes were approved for construction in Victoria. About 37,000 of these approvals were for detached houses, about 11,000 for medium-density units and townhouses, and about 14,000 for higher-density apartments.During the same period NSW had about 52,000 approvals and Queensland about 37,000.“During the past two years to December 2022, the Victorian Planning Authority—the Victorian government agency that plans for Melbourne’s greenfields—delivered 50,000 lots, double the pace of South-East Queensland at 25,000 lots and more than three times the pace of metropolitan Sydney at 15,000 lots,” a spokesman says.“We continue to support growth and development while building on Melbourne's legacy of distinctiveness, liveability and sustainability.” <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

Developers in Victoria are looking outside the state as convoluted processes trip up development. The Urban Developer finds out what the problems are—and what can be done to get things moving…


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Australian logistics platform LOGOS has filed plans for seven warehouses with a total 43,500sq m of lettable space in Melbourne’s north—all of it under a single giant roof.LOGOS is understood to have paid about $40 million 12 months ago for the 7.8ha site at 21-35 Radford Road in Reservoir, about 12km north of Melbourne’s centre.The proposal before Darebin Shire Council seeks seven warehouses, accompanying offices, car parking for 265 vehicles, loading docks and signage zones, a café and the removal of an easement and reserve.The warehouses will range in size from 3050sq m to nearly 11,000 square metres.LOGOS head of development in Australia and New Zealand Troy Bryant said the current market meant the sheds would be mostly built speculatively.“Our DNA was always to pre-commit to around 60 or 70 per cent of our pipeline, that is built to suit for our customer, and speculative was probably the other 30 per cent,” Bryant said, “and that 30 per cent was just to just to finish off the master plan nicely.“That has now completely flipped. So we are now probably 80 per cent speculative build and only about 20 per cent build-to-suit.”Bryant said that was mainly due to strong demand in the market.“We know we can speculatively build and better control our destiny.“Number two, we're reducing our exposure risk to construction costs by just building generic product and speculative product. And number three we know that we're seeing still strong rental growth through the construction phase.”<div id="3hIyXrEpwXjLUYwF1fIpni"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3OrI8QKpKFgbcic9wt0FXg/4d1e11c9c76b76ce199d9829bd2188bf/Logos_Reservoir_1__Mid.jpg" alt="At the suggestion of Darwin Council, landscaping along the north-west boundary has been increased to 3m to allow for canopy tree planting. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3OrI8QKpKFgbcic9wt0FXg/4d1e11c9c76b76ce199d9829bd2188bf/Logos_Reservoir_1__Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ At the suggestion of Darebin council, landscaping along the north-west boundary has been increased to 3m to allow for canopy tree planting. </div></div><div id="3hIyXrEpwXjLUYwF1fIpni"> </div>The industrial sector has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/melbourne-industrial-land-undersupply-warning-pca" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/melbourne-industrial-land-undersupply-warning-pca">warning for more than a year&nbsp;</a>that a chronic undersupply of zoned industrial land across greater Melbourne risked serious consequences for the state’s logistics and supply chain.Last month the Property Council of Australia released research—commissioned from town planners Urbis—which shows there is only four years supply of industrial-zoned land remaining in metropolitan Melbourne.As online shopping grabs&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/industrial-development-must-double-sector-told" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/industrial-development-must-double-sector-told">an increasing share of total retail&nbsp;</a>across the country, the growing need for last mile logistics has seen industrial rents balloon, particularly in Greater Melbourne.At the time of the Urbis data release, LOGOS Group’s head of Australia and New Zealand Darren Searle warned rents could not keep increasing.“At some point the chief financial officers around this country are going to say, pause.&nbsp;&nbsp;They’ll say what are we going to do about evolving and making our businesses more efficient,” he said last month.“I don’t think we’re quite there yet.<div id="30vhKh84TEz8aourJJ5hdb"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2B99YBAC3mhhtZZ93E0yqv/8dd6dcc146caba82901bbb7418d0b7a3/Logos_Reservoir_2__Mid.jpg" alt="Seven offices and a cafe are part of plans before Darwin City Council" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2B99YBAC3mhhtZZ93E0yqv/8dd6dcc146caba82901bbb7418d0b7a3/Logos_Reservoir_2__Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Seven offices and a cafe are part of plans before Darebin City Council.</div><div> </div></div>“But rent growth will continue in Victoria until such time as we undo some of that supply side,” Searle said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“And the challenge for government is to start unlocking that land, unlocking the services so as to enable more products coming into the market.”But Bryant said the New South Wales situation was just as bad.“The vacancy factor in Sydney is nearly zero.&nbsp;“Which means if you wanted to rent a shed in Western Sydney now for medium-sized business of say 10,000sq m, you don’t have an option. There’s nowhere to go,” he said.The Reservoir acquisition was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/logos-transactions-huntingwood-reservoir-logistics-estate" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/logos-transactions-huntingwood-reservoir-logistics-estate">one of two big industrial purchases </a>LOGOS made at the time, also snapping up a 21.5ha greenfield site in Huntingwood in Sydney’s central west.That site was also in the planning stages, but Bryant said they would not be on site for at least another six months.And that, he said, was a direct result of Sydney’s “archaic” planning system.“In NSW, the consent authority is actually the state government,” he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“And they still have to go back to local government for referral agency consent, or referral agency support with agencies like Sydney Water, Transport New South Wales, all those things.“We always knew the Sydney site has more planning risk.”

Australian logistics platform LOGOS has filed plans for seven warehouses with a total 43,500sq m of lettable space in Melbourne’s north—all of it under a single giant roof...

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Sydney-based developer Sammut Group and investor partner Alceon are defying nationwide odds, inking an $11.52-million deal for a full-floor apartment in their yet-to-be-completed 37-storey Gold Coast beachfront tower.It’s their second full-floor sale in less than a month after a New Zealand buyer paid $10.75 million for an apartment in February.Only seven of the 53 apartments in the $200-million development remain, including an 1140sq m penthouse.Lead agent and Highland Property Group chief executive David Highland said marketing of the penthouse would begin soon with the expectation it could bring up to $30 million.“If you look at the sales in the past 30 days, they’re the highest square metre rates on the Gold Coast,” Highland told The Urban Developer.And that’s where the developer is bucking the trend.Tightened monetary policy, rising inflation and interest rates, higher construction costs and a shrinking pool of contractors after the collapse of a string of builders have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/development-site-sales-australia-collapse" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/development-site-sales-australia-collapse">left some developers rethinking</a>&nbsp;their commitment to the area.But Cronulla-based Sammut Group pressed ahead with its first Gold Coast project on the beachfront site at 43 Garfield Terrace. It contracted construction giant Multiplex, who expects to complete the tower by early 2025.<div id="6YqzexV0TcbZWj4iz76BQ1"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1ZpDxe6mT4ZxOCnKCPfq97/8486ebec2b2c58ce387aa5db1f83dda5/Sammut_Gold_Coast_1__Mid.jpg" alt="For the second time in a month, a buyer has paid more than $10 million for a full-floor apartment in Sammut’s beachfront tower." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1ZpDxe6mT4ZxOCnKCPfq97/8486ebec2b2c58ce387aa5db1f83dda5/Sammut_Gold_Coast_1__Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ For the second time in a month, a buyer has paid more than $10 million for a full-floor apartment in Sammut’s beachfront tower. </div><div> </div></div>Speaking of the latest full-floor sale, chief executive Allen Sammut said with just a handful of&nbsp;apartments remaining, buyers were recognising the rare opportunity to secure a spot in the&nbsp;highly sought-after luxury development.With minimum floor plates of 287sq m and entry-level prices of $5.6 million, the apartments are definitely for the well-heeled and those arguably less affected by 10 straight interest rate rises since May last year.Highland said in many cases buyers were looking for a second or third home. Interest had come from Sydney, Melbourne, parts of Brisbane, as far as New Zealand and in some cases, expats wishing to return to Australia.“I would say the Gold Coast market is holding up, in some ways better than in parts of Sydney,” he said. “And the fundamentals are that there’s a lot more money that’s gone up there, both through Covid and post-Covid.”<div id="3HZDEpH9saWAyHF9kVSxMd"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6LDwCrSdvRoWnz2540qpOw/af9dc2309f495c015ad4b5fc9f1c8f92/Sammut_Gold_Coast_2__Mid.jpg" alt="Selling agents say the Gold Coast property market is staying strong, particularly with high-end apartments and beachfront views such as this one. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6LDwCrSdvRoWnz2540qpOw/af9dc2309f495c015ad4b5fc9f1c8f92/Sammut_Gold_Coast_2__Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Selling agents say the Gold Coast property market is staying strong, particularly with high-end apartments and beachfront views such as this one.</div><div> </div></div>Figures released last week by Colliers International support that argument.The global real estate services company said its research showed national house prices had fallen more than five times as much as those on the Gold Coast.Colliers market overview report indicates Gold Coast’s median house price slipped by $15,000, or 1.5 per cent, to $925,000 at the end of 2022—down from the $940,000 reported at the peak of the market in June last year.The modest price drop on the Gold Coast compares with a record fall of 8.4 per cent in CoreLogic’s national daily home value index, from the peak of the market in May 2022.Colliers’ Gold Coast director-in-charge Steven King said the latest data, supported by continued growth in the city’s commercial property sector, showed Gold Coast prices were holding firm amid volatile conditions nationally.“The latest population forecasts, the strength of the Gold Coast’s employment market&nbsp;and the massive investment in infrastructure across the city is providing the local&nbsp;property market with remarkable resilience,” King said.Highland agrees. “The infrastructure is obviously evolving and it’s come a long way from where it was, but it’s now a destination that high-net-worth individuals want to be involved in, both professionally and personally.”

Sydney-based developer Sammut Group and investor partner Alceon are defying nationwide odds, inking an $11.52 million deal for a full-floor apartment in their yet-to-be-completed 37-storey Gold Coast beachfront tower.

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A western Sydney bowling club has taken its ambitious plans for an 18-storey mixed-use development to the Department of Planning and the Environment, after the Hills Shire Council refused to endorse the project.The 85-year-old Hills District Bowling Club is hoping the Sydney Central Planning Panel will decide on the $50-million redevelopment by the end of April.The club’s plan seeks to retain at least two playing greens and a clubhouse but add up to 196 apartments as well as 32 senior-living units in four buildings on its 1.34ha site at 6-18 Jenner Street, in Baulkham Hills.About 3100sq m of floor space would have been given over to the registered club and 152sq m for commercial and retail floor space. The concept plans show a single building—with a six-storey podium— fronting Old Northern Road. Three smaller buildings of five to six storeys would open to Jenner Street.The plans were first made public in August 2020 during pre-lodgement meetings between the bowling club and the Hills Shire. A formal development application was filed in March 2021.In the 18 months since then, the plans have been revised at least twice, which saw the main tower reduced from 21 storeys to 16, and the number of residential units dropping by 43. The latest plans had also reduced the clubhouse to two floors rather than the original three.Still Hill Shire said no, citing the main building’s uplift, height and setbacks, as well as concerns with traffic and transport.<div id="2nukp6WKV7pe9AEbx1Rzbn"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7JBa1QjFjIHlNJ3Y9hbTTH/f963eb2aee70ec3d0a20c83c7ae49790/Hills_Bowls_Club_1_Mid.jpg" alt="in knocking back the proposal, the Hills Shire also said no to $7.65 million in Voluntary Planning Agreements by the developer." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7JBa1QjFjIHlNJ3Y9hbTTH/f963eb2aee70ec3d0a20c83c7ae49790/Hills_Bowls_Club_1_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ In knocking back the proposal, the Hills Shire also said no to $7.65 million in Voluntary Planning Agreements by the developer.</div><div> </div></div>In a report to the council, Hills’ manager of forward planning, Nicholas Carlton, pointed out that at 63m, the 18-storey residential tower would be the tallest building in an area. The maximum building height is set at 50 metres.Carlton’s report also raised regional and transport issues, which impede development within the Baulkham Hills town centre.“The proposal is inconsistent with the policy position articulated within council’s LSPS (Local Strategic Planning Statement), which specifically identifies that council will ‘discourage commercial and residential uplift in Baulkham Hills town centre until transport and traffic issues are resolved’,” the council meeting was told.“The development concept submitted demonstrates an outcome which is beyond the built&nbsp;form capacity of the site.”<div id="2AEgWrXlsSFUZj4biqwzMM"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1dHZHTNv1RGv45DrWGBqRu/043d6af4cac25b3a4889bddb652b191c/Hills_Bowls_Club_2__Mid.jpg" alt="Hills Bowling Club has lowered the height of the proposed club rooms and restaurant from three storeys to two. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1dHZHTNv1RGv45DrWGBqRu/043d6af4cac25b3a4889bddb652b191c/Hills_Bowls_Club_2__Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Hills Bowling Club has lowered the height of the proposed club rooms and restaurant from three storeys to two.</div><div> </div></div>The council agreed, but&nbsp;in knocking back the proposal, the Hills Shire also said no—for the time-being at least—&nbsp;to $7.65 million in Voluntary Planning Agreements, including&nbsp;$2.85 million in local infrastructure contributions.Voluntary Planning Agreements, or VPAs, are agreed between developers and government agencies (including councils) for money or works by the developer for infrastructure, services or other public amenities typically negotiated at the time of rezoning.Hills bowling club management would not comment on the rezoning review, other than to say the plans before the Sydney Central Planning Panel had not changed from those refused by Hills Shire.

A western Sydney bowling club has taken its ambitious plans for an 18-storey mixed-use development to the Department of Planning and the Environment, after the Hills Shire Council refused to endorse the project.

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Colourful Sydney businessman and former Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim is behind plans to build a five-storey residential shoptop in Potts Point.Ibrahim, long dubbed “Teflon” John by sections of the Sydney media, is seeking to develop 22 apartments in a mixed-use project, which would include a bar, restaurant and retail space at 28-38 Bayswater Road, Potts Point.Online documents show the three adjoining lots, totalling about 1394sq m, were acquired by Cantabri Pty Ltd for $1 each in January of 2021. The sole director of Cantabri is John Hausam Ibrahim, of Dover Heights.The upper floors of the $19.7-million project would include five one-bedroom apartments, 11 two-bedroom and six of three bedrooms. There will be off-street parking for 15 vehicles, end-of-trip facilities and ground and lower-ground retail space of about 1182sq metres.The Squillace Architects design retains and renovates two mid-Victorian period terraces, each with a three-level building form that over the years have been heavily modified.In a report accompanying the development application, Weir Phillips Planning and Heritage said the two buildings were from a period during which the foundations of the suburb of Potts Point were laid.“The history of these terraces mirrors the fortunes of the area as they changed from grand city residences to boarding houses, with shops and later restaurants and night clubs at ground floor levels,” Weir Phillips wrote.<div id="2vwQRTwGKXpVjqkhoKUm4Z"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/OybALackpRCasSg61pwjs/4b87bc75f26f12f1ba1db64c6cfad3bd/Potts_Point_Shoptop_Mid.jpg" alt="Caption: Under the plans two mid-Victorian period terraces, already heavily modified, will be retained and renovated." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/OybALackpRCasSg61pwjs/4b87bc75f26f12f1ba1db64c6cfad3bd/Potts_Point_Shoptop_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Under the plans two mid-Victorian period terraces, already heavily modified, will be retained and renovated.</div><div> </div></div>Hamptons Property Services, which filed the application with Sydney City Council, said the site was within walking distance of Kings Cross Station, various bus services, a supermarket and professional services, all within “a location where car dependency is low”.The proposed bar, restaurant and retail space tenancies would be the subject of future applications to Sydney council for specific use.The current buildings on the site house the Thai Rock Restaurant and the restaurant and music venue Crane Bar—owned by Sydney model Sarah Budge—which ceased operations during Covid.Budge is listed as the sole director of Bayswater Road Development Management Pty Ltd, which commissioned&nbsp;Squillace Architects to design the building.Last month,&nbsp; Paramount+ announced its series, Last King of The Cross,&nbsp;was officially the streaming service’s most-watched local series in its first week.The series is inspired by John Ibrahim’s autobiography of the same name.

Colourful Sydney businessman and former Kings Cross nightclub owner, John Ibrahim, is behind plans to build a five-storey residential shoptop in Potts Point.

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The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ)—Australia’s fourth-biggest bank and the country’s seventh-biggest publicly-traded company—has been fined $10 million over its home loan introducer program.The introducer program involved home loan referrals to ANZ from third party ‘introducers’ from various professions, including cleaners and real estate agents.Australian Securities and Investments Commission deputy chair Sarah Court said under consumer protection laws, ANZ’s introducer program should only have accepted names and contact details for customers from unlicensed third parties.&nbsp;“Instead ANZ was sent sensitive information by unlicensed intermediaries, including pay slips and copies of identification documents. In some cases these documents were fraudulent,” Court said in a prepared statement.The Federal Court found that in the 12 months to March of 2018, ANZ contravened consumer credit protection laws by accepting information and documents in support of 50 home loan applications from unlicenced third parties who were not licensed to engage in credit activity.The court also found that between November 2015 to March 2018, ANZ did not have adequate processes in place in its introducer program to ensure compliance and failed to take reasonable steps to ensure ANZ’s representatives complied with consumer credit protection laws.“By failing to have robust compliance and training processes in place, ANZ made it possible for third party intermediaries to misrepresent consumers’ financial details in order to receive commissions on loans approved based on possibly misleading information,” deputy chair Court said.ASIC said ANZ had admitted the contraventions and had agreed to conduct a review of its policies and procedures around the program to ensure ongoing compliance with credit legislation.ANZ has also been ordered to pay ASIC’s costs.ANZ consented to the orders being made and the parties made joint submissions on liability and penalty.&nbsp;Introducer programs, by which unlicensed third parties can refer customers to banks for loans, was heavily criticised in the two-year-long Financial Services Royal Commission, which found the program had exposed consumers to additional risk by insulating the lender from what the intermediary does with the borrower.In October 2020, National Australia Bank (NAB) paid a $15 million penalty for dealing with unlicenced home loan introducers.Eleven months earlier, in November 2019, former Western Sydney NAB branch manager Mathew Alwan was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment—served by way of intensive corrections order—for making false and misleading statements to NAB in relation to 24 home loan applications.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ)—Australia’s fourth biggest bank and the country’s seventh biggest publicly-traded company—has been fined $10 million over its home loan introducer program.

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Australia will need to double its aged-care stocks in the next 12 to 15 years or risk a national health care disaster, according to one of the leading experts in the field.No one seems to be able to understand the depth of the problem or what is needed to remedy it, according to LDK Seniors’ Living founder and director Paul Browne.“What’s going to happen is everyone will be forced to stay at home when they’re old and frail, living in particularly inappropriate housing,” Browne said.“They’ll be falling down stairs, breaking hips, breaking pelvises … we are going to have every corridor in every hospital within seven to 10 years chockers with seniors, who should never have been living in their current environment, but are there because nothing appropriate has been built.”Browne describes himself and his company as “major disrupters” in the sector.The major disrupter has been involved in aged care and seniors living for the past 25 years, moving into the sector after he saw the way in which his own mother spent the last months and years of her life.He said the blame for the current state of seniors living can be laid squarely at the feet of government and its interference in the sector back in the 1950s.“They decided to bring in a range of capital grants programs, which for decades were only available to not-for-profit organisations,” he said.“What that did was to shut the profit sector—the entrepreneurs, the innovators—out of the industry.“So, we saw aged care, what we call nursing homes today, evolve pretty much exclusively at the hands of the not-for-profit organisations.”<div id="WIF8wNW4LaHIPJ4CayAqo"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2dQ7A5YGJsVlVkMpkLS8Er/e95822dd71ff445662f04ac4736835de/Aged_Care_vSummit_Mid.jpg" alt="LDK Seniors’ Living founder and director Paul Browne: A major disrupter for the aged care sector." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2dQ7A5YGJsVlVkMpkLS8Er/e95822dd71ff445662f04ac4736835de/Aged_Care_vSummit_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ LDK Seniors’ Living founder and director Paul Browne: A major disrupter for the aged care sector.</div><div> </div></div>Browne, who last year sold a half-stake in LDK to Anglicare Sydney, will be one of the guest speakers at&nbsp;<a href="https://web.cvent.com/event/c8302c5c-d33f-433b-9364-d67ed8d1018f/summary?RefId=TUDM%3A%20Content&amp;rt=X_aufiJPxEeHOTaMYZfoiQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://web.cvent.com/event/c8302c5c-d33f-433b-9364-d67ed8d1018f/summary?RefId=TUDM%3A%20Content&amp;rt=X_aufiJPxEeHOTaMYZfoiQ">The Urban Developer&nbsp;Aged Care and Retirement Living vSummit</a>&nbsp;on March 23.He admits he is pessimistic.“I guess the message I’ll be delivering is that we’re heading for a national health care disaster,” he said.“Part of the problem is that the property developers in the early days came into the retirement village industry and as they morphed into bigger players they wanted nothing to do with aged care.“In fact, they’re terrified of it.“And the Royal Commission has only made it worse, further terrorising anybody from actually thinking, ‘Oh, well, we should be doing senior living with services right up to palliative care’.”That’s the model LDK has adopted—the letters stand for Love, Decency and Kindness—retirement and aged care in one product. A client only has to move from the family home once.<div id="7mAWINGyfA5v8oGYNDJjpp"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/XsREq4zFMiQxPg1JYohPj/c898722fab70a03c0253adf6a11a7847/Aged_Care_vSummit_2_Mid.jpg" alt="Australia will need to double its aged-care stocks in the next 12 to 15 years, according to Browne" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/XsREq4zFMiQxPg1JYohPj/c898722fab70a03c0253adf6a11a7847/Aged_Care_vSummit_2_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Australia will need to double its aged-care stocks in the next 12 to 15 years, according to Browne</div><div> </div></div>LDK will open Amberfield seniors living community in Yarralumla in about 12 months. It will be their third village and bring to about 1000 the number of homes they have in Canberra and Sydney.They have about $100 million in pre-sales.But Browne’s fear is that other aged-care operators are not building new stock.“Everyone’s off nursing homes,” he said. “The government, the Department of Health and Aged Care, the press, everyone down to their own clientele hates nursing homes, so they are on a hiding to nothing, absolutely nothing.“The problem is we’ve got 300,000 people living in nursing homes, where no one’s making any money, and it’s not profitable to build any more.“And yet we need a doubling of our aged-care stock built.” <hr> The Urban Developer Aged Care and Retirement Living vSummit will take place on Thursday, March 23.&nbsp;<a href="https://cvent.me/BrvqMb?rt=X_aufiJPxEeHOTaMYZfoiQ&amp;RefId=TUDM%3A+Content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="https://cvent.me/BrvqMb?rt=X_aufiJPxEeHOTaMYZfoiQ&amp;RefId=TUDM%3A+Content" data-mce-href="https://cvent.me/BrvqMb?rt=X_aufiJPxEeHOTaMYZfoiQ&amp;RefId=TUDM%3A+Content">Click here to register.</a>

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State and national developers—lured by the proximity to a major university, a research hospital, a business park, refurbished train station and the nearby overhauled shopping centre—are flocking to Macquarie Park in Sydney’s north-western suburbs.The area, identified as “an innovation precinct and economic powerhouse”, is on the verge of further growth with the latest stage of rezoning studies underway.Those will involve detailed masterplanning and the introduction of new planning controls across Macquarie Park to guide future development, in an area that’s already a hub of&nbsp;construction&nbsp;and development activity.Major student accommodation developments such as Singapore-based&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/singapore-developer-macquarie-park-student-accommodation-development-application" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/singapore-developer-macquarie-park-student-accommodation-development-application">Centurion’s $132-million purpose-built site</a> have been launched alongside residential developments, including Eco World International’s 123-apartment complex, which was <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/malaysians-greenlit-for-macquarie-park-residential" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/malaysians-greenlit-for-macquarie-park-residential">approved last week</a>.And just this week Harry Triguboff’s Meriton&nbsp;secured approval for a huge, three-tower mixed-use development at 100-108 Talavera Road.In a letter of approval, planning authorities said Meriton’s development “exhibits design excellence which positively contributes to the overall architectural quality” of the Macquarie Park Corridor.<div id="26fc2oMbXgJIZ6y4ln0Kq2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3mtNqPHVXyfbTBPAWfUYuo/241e30152253daf6881b0a2bd33cfdc5/Macquarie_Park_Meriton_development_in-article.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/3mtNqPHVXyfbTBPAWfUYuo/241e30152253daf6881b0a2bd33cfdc5/Macquarie_Park_Meriton_development_in-article.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Planning authorities said that Meriton's proposal was consistent with its ambitious objectives for the area. </div></div> Designed by architects PTW, the complex dubbed Trilogy will be one of Australia’s tallest suburban developments.Apartments are on sale from $670,000.The latest approval comes after a nearly six-year process, with initial demolition works agreed in 2017.The first stage of the complex, located to the west of the current site, is already completed after being approved in 2019. An initial concept development application for the next stage of the site was approved by Sydney North Planning Panel in 2020.The current plans, which were lodged before Ryde City Council in early 2022, call for an additional three buildings, at a cost of $362 million.Building A will be 38 storeys with 36 levels of residential space totaling 206 apartments.&nbsp;Building B will have 345 apartments across 45 storeys, while Building C will reach 59 storeys, with 521 apartments across 54 levels. The bulk of the homes will be of two and three bedrooms. <div id="4lTeLhjcBD39gzcyGez7ZK"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7Ht5AsKsVvkKjNjdKDOMQz/d41b1711bbdef62be078511e3eee7df2/Meriton_Mac_Park_in_article.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7Ht5AsKsVvkKjNjdKDOMQz/d41b1711bbdef62be078511e3eee7df2/Meriton_Mac_Park_in_article.jpg"></picture><div>▲ In total, Meriton’s Trilogy project stage 2 will have a total GFA of 103,950 square metres.&nbsp; </div></div> The application covers a four-storey basement and multi-storey podium carpark for 1256 vehicles.A five-storey podium is also proposed, which will include 807sq m of retail, a 562-sq-m restaurant and a 120-place childcare facility.Meanwhile, prolific Sydney developer Urban Property Group is hoping amended plans before Ryde City Council will ease the approval path for its own Macquarie Park plans.UPG—led by brothers Patrick and Mark Elias—are seeking 119 apartments across 16 storeys, including basement level parking at 94 Talavera Road, just a stone’s throw from the Meriton approval.While a final determination should be made by the Sydney North Planning Panel, the developer’s planned $36.4 million build stalled after authorities failed to decide on the application in the allotted time.UPG confirmed the so-called “deemed refusal” had become part of a Section 34 hearing in the NSW Land and Environment Court, in which both sides hold&nbsp;discussions to identify the issues in dispute, consider options and try to reach agreement.The 2780sq m triangular-shaped site is also within the Macquarie Park Corridor, which town planners Ethos Urban describe as “a premier technology park filled with globally competitive businesses and strong links to Macquarie University”.<div id="6FXRXLFCUgCmpWNxgb5qYe"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2QrgokIPg8WcinRuvbUqNC/99ad44b5f184c105991751578c01a86a/UPG_Mac_Mid_Mid.jpg" alt="While Meriton’s Macquarie Park project has been approved, UPG’s plans for 119 apartments across 16 storeys will have to wait a while longer." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2QrgokIPg8WcinRuvbUqNC/99ad44b5f184c105991751578c01a86a/UPG_Mac_Mid_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ While Meriton’s Macquarie Park project has been approved, UPG’s plans for 119 apartments across 16 storeys will have to wait a while longer.</div><div> </div></div>The Cox Architecture design calls for 36 one-bedroom, 58 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom apartments. Just one will be four bedrooms.&nbsp;&nbsp;Parking is planned for 123 vehicles.At 51.1m the tower will exceed the 45m maximum building height control.In documents first submitted to Ryde City Council in January last year, Ethos Urban said the proposed development was on land that “contains a challenging topography”, pointing to a slope of about 9m from south-west to north-east.A spokesman for Ryde confirmed the development application had not been determined within the 40 days necessary and the council and developers had attended a Section 34 mediation conference.&nbsp;&nbsp;A hearing date had been set for May 2023.“The applicant has however lodged amended plans and these are currently on exhibition,” the spokesman said.“If council is happy with these plans it is possible to request the matter be returned back to a section 34 conference rather than a full hearing in May.”It’s been a busy start to the year for UPG, who last month&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/urban-property-178-townhouses-edmondson-park-sydney-development-application" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/urban-property-178-townhouses-edmondson-park-sydney-development-application">filed plans for a 178-townhouse&nbsp;</a>development in the south-west Sydney suburb of Edmondson Park.

State and national developers are flocking to Macquarie Park, with the latest development by Meriton getting the green light, while UPG's own site is struggling to get over the line...

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Malaysia-listed Eco World International has won approval for a 16-storey, 123-apartment tower in Sydney’s north-west suburbs.The Sydney North Planning Panel agreed with Ryde City Council that a small breach of the 45m maximum building height could be tolerated, allowing for the $61 million development to move ahead.It’s the third Australian project for the Malaysian developer, after the 40-storey West Village residential tower in Parramatta and the recently completed <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/construction-starts-on-242m-yarra-one-tower" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/construction-starts-on-242m-yarra-one-tower">Fender Katsalidis-designed Yarra One</a>, in Melbourne’s inner south-east.Eco World’s latest Australian venture—at 1-3 Lachlan Avenue—backs on to Frasers Property’s Midtown MacPark, which was fast-tracked by the NSW government early in the pandemic.Lured by the proximity to Macquarie University, a major business park, a regional hospital, a refurbished train station and the nearby overhauled shopping centre, Eco World acquired the 2750sq m site for a reported $40 million towards the end of 2017.A vacant three-storey walk-up residential building will be demolished to make way for the new development.Of the 123 apartments, there will be 100 single-level apartments, eight dual-level townhouses and 15 dual-level villa-style apartments. The homes will be a mix of one, two and three bedrooms.The plans call for carparking for 105 residents on basement and mezzanine levels. About 850sq m will be given over to communal open space, including a courtyard, rooftop area and outdoor gymnasium.At 47.83m high, the building is slightly less than three metres above the allowable height.Ryde City Council agreed with the developer that strict compliance with the development standard was both unreasonable and unnecessary.“In this case assessment of this request concludes that the application offers an improved outcome as it delivers a usable rooftop area which features communal open space and associated landscaping,” the council said in a letter to the planning panel.Eco World&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/malaysian-developer-eco-world-lodges-56m-resi-macquarie-park" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/malaysian-developer-eco-world-lodges-56m-resi-macquarie-park">first applied to develop the site&nbsp;</a>15km north-west of downtown Sydney in June 2021. Ryde told the planning panel the developer had amended architectural plans at least four times throughout last year.Many of those changes were in response to 24 submissions that were lodged during a public exhibition.The issues raised included site isolation, overshading, overdevelopment, non-compliance, as well as construction impact from noise and dust.<div id="7fBX0LqvBMJa5OBZD00vH"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6eWsnnw4KiWEkGmpjtml3g/2529c859d076abc781f7483f3ff86d01/Eco_World_Mid.jpg" alt="The Macquarie Park residential development will be the third Australian project for the Malaysian listed company." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6eWsnnw4KiWEkGmpjtml3g/2529c859d076abc781f7483f3ff86d01/Eco_World_Mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The Macquarie Park residential development will be the third Australian project for the Malaysian listed company.</div><div> </div></div>In supporting the proposal, architects Bureau SRH said the project site was in an area that was transitioning from low-to-medium scale development into large scale tower type development.“This can be identified by three-to-four storey residential buildings along Lachlan Avenue and tower-style new development along Herring Road,” the architects wrote.Eco World International is a real estate developer listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange but whose core business involves property development outside the country.It launched its first project in 2015 and now has 18 ongoing and upcoming projects in the UK and Australia.

Malaysia-listed Eco World International has won approval for a 16-storey, 123-apartment tower in Sydney’s north-west suburbs.