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GUEST OBSERVER
“Our Future”, a year-long consultation process about a long-term vision for the City of Geelong, has begun. City of Greater Geelong CEO Kelvin Spiller engaged the first UNESCO chair of futures studies, Sohail Inayatullah, to kick-start the project in September.
Spiller, who has produced outcomes for city visioning initiatives on the Sunshine Coast, describes Our Future as a process of “presenting new perceptions, future directions, identifying used futures and new scenarios”. In a rapidly changing world, citizens use scenario thinking to gain insights into how cities can create alternative possibilities and solutions. 
How does industry see the future?
Inayatullah helped workshops of industry professionals develop various industry scenarios: 
Geelong’s emerging futures emphasise its great coastal beauty and its people’s strengths. The city remains small compared to the Gold Coast although, with 229,000 people, Greater Geelong is still among the largest of 561 local government areas in Australia. It is attractive, scenic and touristy. The city’s tranquil bay and marina, picturesque vineyards and proximity attract holidaymakers from Melbourne. 
Artificial intelligence (AI) futures open up a journey on the digital highway to build crowdsourced ideas, new funding models and business start-ups. Geelong’s traditional motor vehicle manufacturing culture combines with a spirit of innovation and global enterprise. The city promotes, evolves and services the introduction of driverless cars, the gaming industry, smart technologies and robotics.
Geelong’s population density, growing diversity, economic mix and proximity to Melbourne’s demographic richness support it as a social and education city. Geelong increases its transport and connectedness to its unique destinations to attract wide interests, new worker profiles and residents seeking a “sea change” from Melbourne’s inner suburbs. Residents network with local business owners and workers to generate services and programs for regional neighbours and Melbourne’s markets.
What does the community want?
Guided by Inayatullah, a community interactive session used metaphors to bring home a message of continual transition. He describes the use of metaphors as being a decisive factor in shifting narrative strategy:
If you don’t innovate and create agency to shift your own narrative, then culture eats strategy for breakfast. 
Geelong’s history of innovation includes the development of the world’s first ute and the first industrial refrigerator. This history suggests Geelong could provide services to global niche markets. 
The community also suggested transitions from costly and unnatural botanic gardens to green bionic gardens – sprawling rooftop gardens, indoor gardens and rainwater systems flowing into indigenous gardens. Gardens would beautify municipal roads and infrastructure. 
Another suggested transition was from being a “dormitory of Melbourne” to being a retreat for Melbourne holidaymakers and a “hive” location for its best thinkers to create their futures.
In the community session, I outlined Gold Coast’s Bold Future initiative. My presentation featured the city’s growth, including 100 new high-rises on the Surfers Paradise skyline in five decades. 
Navigating different growth scenarios
The challenge for Geelong is to navigate through growth scenarios such as:
Sustainable growth: five new high-rises emerge to support low-level tourism, conference accommodation and a burgeoning education and health precinct.
Overdevelopment: an oversupply of residential and holiday maker apartments become difficult to fill, halting investment. Population waves are required to sustain rates and market base.
Underdevelopment: Gold Coast’s rapid growth raises questions about Geelong’s slow growth and missed opportunities to develop high-rises alongside celebratory events packages. These packages rely on transport and tourism infrastructure and include the building of stadiums. The strength of underdevelopment, however, is that Geelong remains a clean, green and historically beautiful seaside city.
Negative growth: collapse results in generations of hardship. 
An outcome of Gold Coast’s 2037 vision is its Health and Knowledge Precinct. The 200-hectare site has generated more than A$5 billion in investment and is now linked by light rail to the city’s tourism centres.
Spiller noted that Geelong’s Our Future is continuing a 175-year process of reinvention. He hailed transformational metaphors that saw the city as more than a technology hub, potentially providing a deep commitment to networking to create a Silicon Valley. These have led to visions of transforming from a “resort city” to a “city of health and wellness”, from an “industrial, agricultural city” to a creative lifestyle, and from a “sleepy hollow” to an “emerging and sustainable city”. 
Time for feedback on Geelong’s future
Our Future extends over five stages, with the final three to begin in 2017. 
From January to March, the community can comment on ideas presented to date. Stages four and five will provide vision documents and conclude with an exhibition of the foresight journey the city has created.
Spiller and his team are developing a ten-to-30-year Our Future vision and strategies, for the city’s social, environmental and community infrastructure in particular. You can have your say about Geelong’s future via the Our Future survey.
Colin Russo is futurist, University of the Sunshine Coast and author for The Conversation. He can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/colin-russo-267108" target="_blank">here</a>.
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From the Gold Coast to Geelong: how cities are shaping visions of their futures

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GUEST OBSERVER
Yep, it happened. And now that the dust is settling, the challenges for Asia are becoming more evident. In sum, 2017 looks like it’ll be the most difficult for the region since 2009. It’s not, of course, entirely the President-elect’s fault – his administration, after all, hasn’t even outlined a detailed policy agenda yet, let alone taken the reins of power. 
Plus, Asia’s travails are partly self-inflicted. Still, if the past few weeks are any indication, things are bound to get a lot tougher. Trade is one thing, with exports already struggling and little prospect for a policy-driven rebound. The bigger issue, though, is the dollar and rates. Financial conditions are tightening across the region, putting a squeeze on domestic demand. It’ll get bumpier, still. 
As impressive as the rebound from the Global Financial Crisis has been, Asia has over recent years merely limped along. The taper tantrum of 2013 was a wake-up call, but the region managed to hit the snooze button for a little while longer, avoiding outright financial stress. 
But growth continued to decelerate, with exports in particular struggling to make meaningful headways since late 2014 and debt saturation weighing on local demand. It’s tempting to think that the latest market gyrations will pass, too, without more substantial harm. But, with every iteration, prospects dim further. 
Start with exports. These, as noted, have struggled for some time now. A combination of factors is to blame, including weak capex the world over, the commodity investment slump, creeping protectionism (or at least the absence of major trade liberalization over the past decade), supply chain disintegration, and an expenditure shift towards services. 
The question for 2017 is whether exports will at last rebound. We have our doubts. An acceleration in US growth should help. Yet this may be offset by continued sluggish demand elsewhere in the world, not least in emerging markets. 
The Trump administration may also help spur a recovery in US private capex, via deregulation and other, purportedly more business friendly policies. Yet it will take time before the full impact is felt, leaving this to be, presumably, more of a story for 2018 and beyond. 
Key to watch will be a deal with Congress to repatriate offshore cash holding by US companies, but it’s not clear that this in itself will send capex soaring if record-low rates previously failed to do so. A promised 1 trillion US dollar infrastructure push could help as well, if this will ever be passed by Congress in its entirety. But again: this too, will stretch out over many years. 
At the same time, a Trump administration may adopt a more protectionist stance. True, details aren’t available yet, apart from some vague talk about punitive action and the promise to shelve the TPP. 
This, no doubt, will restrain exports, even if the impact will likely be more industry specific. But note that uncertainty over trade policy in itself will promptly weigh on growth in Asia by curtailing investment (why invest in further capacity if it remains unclear that the resulting goods can be sold?). In this sense, a pick-up in US capex would partly come at the expense of investment spending in Asia. 
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It’s hard to see, therefore, a meaningful revival in Asia trade for the foreseeable future. 
However, the bigger issues, at least in the near-term, are US rates and the dollar. The spike in US yields has certainly caught markets by surprise. And, if these revert in due course, the damage might prove limited. But accelerating US growth, fuelled by more generous fiscal spending, could make it easier for the Fed to hike rates. 
In fact, HSBC’s chief US economist Kevin Logan, now expects three Fed hikes over the coming year (up from two). 
This amounts to a stiff headwind for Asian economies that have come to rely on rapid credit growth to sustain demand in recent years. Even China, still partly protected by capital controls, is not immune to this: with the PBoC possibly needing to forego, at the very least, further aggressive easing in order to stabilize FX demand. Elsewhere, rate cuts are also becoming a more remote prospect, such as in Malaysia where policy room is shrinking even as growth sags. 
Currency moves are compounding the effect. While exchange rate depreciation should, in principle, provide a boost to Asian exporters, the resulting tightening in financial conditions (higher rates) could more than offset the loosening of monetary conditions (weaker exchange rates). 
First, growth is currently hugely credit intensive and debt levels high, amplifying the drag of higher rates. Second, for the reasons cited, US import demand, despite accelerating growth, will likely be insufficient to compensate for this. Third, contrary to previous episodes of exchange rate weakness, the current FX sell-off is broad-based and, notably, includes the renminbi, thus leaving few Asian exporters with a meaningful gain in competitiveness. 
Challenging stuff. But the effects are not necessarily uniform across Asia. Indonesia, the Philippines, and India are likely to be more shielded from the “Trump effect” given their low debt and low export exposures. 
By contrast, Malaysia, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand should more affected. The winner, if one can call it that, is the Bank of Japan, with the weaker yen taking the pressure off. But that’s not much of a consolation: Japan, too, will in the end need exports to do a lot better to cure its growth malaise. 
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Frederic Neumann is co-head of Asian Economics Research, HSBC, and can be contacted <a href="https://www.hsbc.com.au" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Trump effect soon to be felt in Asia

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The Wategos Beach, Byron Bay holiday home of businessman Mark Rowsthorn, the chief of transport company McAleese, has finally sold at an undisclosed price.
The asking price had remained steadfast at $8.5 million, despite being on the market for nearly two years.
Rowsthorn saw the neighbouring Byron Bay house selling for $9.5 million last year and knocked back several bids.
He paid $6.2 million for the home in 2006 after it traded for $4.5 million the year earlier.
<img src="/images/2016/12/01/byron%20bay.jpg" alt="">
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-nsw-byron+bay-123283794" target="_blank">Set on an elevated 664 square metres</a>, the California bungalow style home has two bedrooms and a two bedroom granny flat.
There have been seven house sales around Wategos this year ranging from $2.4 million to $6.2 million.
This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.
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Businessman Mark Rowsthorn sells at Wategos Beach

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Helena Harris, the award winning co-creator of the Hi-5 children's television show, has listed her resort-style Church Point home. 
She and partner Martin Perrott have renovated the bushland home since they paid $1.85 million in 2009.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-church+point-124092682" target="_blank">Offering 600 square metres of internal space</a>, the architect designed home sits on its 4046 square metre north-facing block with heated infinity pool and spa overlooking Pittwater. Initially known as Tumbarumba, it has been twice renovated since built in 1999.
The gourmet kitchen now comes with eight built-in Miele appliances including coffee machine, induction cooktop, dishwashers and warming drawer.
Iolanda Trovatello at Wiseberry Mona Vale has a price guide of high $2 million to low $3 million for the five bedroom home with three marble bathrooms. 
Sales at Church Point have ranged between $1.1 million and $4.6 million so far this year, with just the five homes currently on the market.
It is one of Sydney's slowest selling suburbs at around 120 days on market, compared with the 26 day Sydney average.
Harris' name is synonymous with successful children's television across the world, and not only for Hi-5.
She was also the originating producer of worldwide hit Bananas in Pyjamas in 1992 as a spin-off for the ABC's flagship children's show, Play School.
She even named two of the bananas' teddy bear friends after her own children.
Helena formed the children’s television production company Kids Like Us with the television executive Posie Graeme-Evans in the mid-1990s with Hi-5 soon pitched to Channel 9 as "The Big Gig meets Countdown on Play School".
Hi-5 enjoyed international success, being broadcasted in 118 countries around the world along with local versions produced in the United States. 
The show won multiple Logies - that sit prominantly on a mantlepiece at the McCarrs Creek Road home.
There were also Emmy nominations for Harris who said good-quality television activated children's imagination.
Harris also helped create the mascots for the Sydney 2000 Olympics - Ollie the kookaburra, Syd the platypus and Millie the echidna.
This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph.
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Bananas in Pyjamas and Hi-5 producer lists in Church Point

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The independent real estate portal Jagonal is for sale after the office leasing website was placed in administration.
Administrators from McGrath Nicol were appointed to Jagonal on November 7 after investors in the three-year-old start-up not to inject more cash for the struggling website.
Final bids for the business close today.
"We've spoken with the administrators and put our hands in the ring for some of the assets," Simon Rose, chief executive of CommercialPropertyGuide.com.au, told the Australian Financial Review.
Jagonal was set up by REA Group alumni Serge Kotlyarov, Andrew Brown and Max Sim in September 2013.
It was backed by a group of investors including founding shareholder Godfrey Franz, a director of Sydney-based Matrix Property Group.
The portal offers leased space across 4500 office buildings and includes a patented 3D office space search. 
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Jagonal for sale after office leasing website goes into administration

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A development-approved site in Sydney’s Miranda has been snapped up by Malaysian-based developer BRDB for $12.8 million.
Located at 1-3 University Road, 668A, 668 and 670 Kingsway, Miranda, the north-facing property has a gross floor area of 5,744 sqm.
It is DA-approved for 66 residential apartments.
Knight Frank managed the sale on behalf of a private family.
According to Knight Frank’s Director, Residential Site Sales, NSW Tim Holtsbaum the purchaser had a strong preference for the Sutherland Shire, given its strong fundamentals and location.
Knight Frank’s Head of Asian Markets, Dominic Ong, said Malaysian buyers have traditionally been very active in Melbourne – but this sale could indicate a shift 
"Sydney has mostly received interest from China and Singapore in terms of Asian investment.
"However, we anticipate this could change."
The north-facing site features 2,872 sqm and is DA-approved large town-home-style ground-floor apartments with garden terraces and upper floors enjoying view towards Cronulla and Sydney’s North.
The apartment mix is approved for 27 percent one-bedroom apartments, 71 percent of two-bedroom apartments and 2 percent three-bedroom apartments.  
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Malaysian developer BRDB buys Miranda apartment site

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GUEST OBSERVER
The government is proposing changes to the foreign investment framework that will allow a foreign real estate investor to purchase an off the plan dwelling when another foreign investor has failed to reach settlement.
In announcing the changes, Treasurer Scott Morrison deployed a familiar narrative about foreign investment increasing housing supply and making “housing more affordable for more Australians”.
This idea is in keeping with property development lobbyists, who are focused on getting government to release more land to solve the complex long-term housing affordability problem in cities. 
However, researchers have debunked this idea before (see here and here). Their conclusion is that government cannot supply its way out of the housing affordability problem in major Australian cities.
The government’s focus on the concerns of the property industry renders invisible a broader set of interested parties and a much more nuanced suite of contributing factors and solutions.
The current foreign investment rules are a blunt set of regulatory tools, held captive to the housing supply and global competitiveness debates. 
<h2>Not all foreign real estate investors are the same</h2>
There are important differences between individual foreign real estate investors, which are regularly conflated in foreign investment policy and the public debate.
In broad terms, there are four investor groups. A class-based distinction defines people from the expanding middle class in countries like China. They are called the new middle class.
A disposable asset distinction, which excludes primary residences, separates the three remaining groups. High net worth individuals have disposable assets that exceed US$1 million. Ultra high net worth individuals have asset holdings in excess of US$30 million. Ultra, ultra high net worth individuals have a minimum of US$50 million in disposable assets in a wealth management fund.
In the absence of fine-grained data about which groups are investing and their differential impacts on cities and housing, the treasurer has opted to protect the development industry rather than the people and places within cities. 
A regulatory environment that is sensitive to various investor groups is important in Australia because different investors impact their host cities in diverse ways. 
<h2>Regulating foreign investors, sales or capital</h2>
How foreign capital intersects with local real estate markets depends onon who is investing capital, the properties in which the capital is being invested and the investment vehicles through which the capital is being transferred.
The arrival of foreign capital is not always accompanied by the arrival of new permanent residents for the city. Therefore, the investors interact with local infrastructure and shape housing supply in diverse ways.
There is a big difference between the impacts of new middle class and high net worth investors in cities compared to ultra and ultra, ultra high net worth investment.
Ultra, ultra high net worth individuals can be “free-floating” investors who travel around the world, purchasing real estate in various global cities. Rowland Atkinson argues this group has little allegiance to the host neighbourhoods. 
Ultra high net worth investors might move between multiple residences and have attachments to the neighbourhoods their properties are in. The new middle class and high net worth investors might live in, or send their spouse and/or children to live in, the house they have purchased. They often have an allegiance to the cities or neighbourhoods their properties are in.
The personal motivations of foreign investors are important too. They can extend far beyond financial considerations.
Foreign investors are motivated by the opportunities that exist in Australia and how these relate to their own migration plans, their children’s education and the financial security that Australian real estate supposedly guarantees. 
Therefore, who is investing and their residency status will shape the neighbourhood, city and perhaps even the country into the future. 
Neighbourhoods with high concentrations of ultra high net worth investors in London appear to be (or may be) devoid of people. Local businesses in these suburbs have become untenable as local patronage declines. 
New middle class and high net worth investors might change the social fabric, educational institutions or employment landscape of a neighbourhood or city through habitation, for good or ill. 
International evidence shows that some investors will occupy their property, others place it on the rental market, some buy multi-million-dollar trophy homes, while others increase the housing supply in a neighbourhood of absentee owners and fading businesses. 
Therefore, the impact of foreign investors on housing supply is related to the investment practises of each investor, the amount of capital they bring into Australia and how they invest it. 
<h2>More dynamic foreign investment rules needed</h2>
Housing supply and global competitiveness arguments have captured the foreign real estate investment debate. Both are too simplistic and need to be augmented with additional voices, policies and data. 
Governments justify their pro-foreign investment and business immigration policies through “financial benefits” arguments in times of prosperity and “economic necessity” arguments in times of hardship. 
These top-down narratives position foreign real estate investment as good for the local economy, with secondary benefits such as increasing housing supply and jobs growth through targeted skill migration and business development. 
The government needs to understand how foreign investment is shaping cities from the ground up. This includes: how foreign investment impacts people in the local neighbourhoods where these properties are located; how developers change the dwellings they build to suit foreign investors; how changing educational institutions are shaping foreign student investment; and the experience of first homebuyers who are looking for a home in the same property markets.
Dallas Rogers is urban studies researcher: Institute for Culture and Society &amp; Urban Research Program, Western Sydney University and author for The Conversation. He can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dallas-rogers-5269" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Changes for off the plan foreign buyers rely on a broken supply argument

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GUEST OBSERVER
The suburban street setback is enshrined in most residential planning policies, including Western Australia’s Residential Design Codes.
These dictate that all dwellings are constructed at a uniform distance from the kerb. 
In low-rise suburban areas, the street setback is occupied by arid grass, wheelie bins, concrete driveways and buried conduits. Often as wide as a tennis court, it’s usually a lifeless expanse. At the property owner’s discretion, the semi-private space of the setback may be enclosed by a hedge, low brick wall or paling fence, or left to bleed out into the adjacent public “nature strip”.
Why does this space exist? What practical function or cultural role does it serve? 
In his 1983 novel Mr Palomar, Italo Calvino explains that, while the suburban lawn itself is an “artificial object”, the “lawn’s purpose is to represent nature”. 
However, according to Thomas Schumacher’s essay, Buildings and Streets: Notes on Configurations and Use (from the 1986 book On Streets), the primary purpose is not symbolic, but defensive. Schumacher writes:
"The lawn does not function to enclose or define street space but only to isolate the street from the house. It is a no-man’s land, a miniature moat and city wall preventing access or use except at intervals."
Peter G. Rowe provides a third explanation in Modernity and Housing(1993). While the front lawn of the suburban house belongs to the owner, explains Rowe, utility companies and municipal authorities usually hold easements over multiple adjoining lawns in a complex interweaving of individual and collective ownership.
The origins of the street setback are virtually inseparable from those of suburbia itself. In 1775, influential English landscape architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown was hired to work alongside his adversary, the architect William Chambers, on rebuilding Dorset’s Milton Abbey estate. Their client, Joseph Damer, had purchased the estate and adjacent 600-person town, and asked Brown and Chambers to relocate the town further away from his new home.
The new village was arrayed along a single six-metre-wide road. Broad grassy verges either side of the road created a separation of 24 metres between house facades. 
The product of a compromise between proximity and privacy, between efficient planning and the picturesque, Milton Abbas established suburban parameters that have varied little in the 240 years since.
<h2>Rethinking the ‘nature strip’</h2>
Enter Fremantle architectural practice Officer Woods and its project, Civic Suburb. 
The 2011 Think Brick Australia About Face competition invited six architectural practices to demonstrate how brick could be creatively deployed in imagining “the future of the Australian suburb”. In response, Officer Woods decided to confront the underutilised space of the street setback. 
Where others saw only a barren verge, the Fremantle architects envisioned a staging ground for suburban transformation. 
Nominally located in the Perth suburb of Melville but widely applicable, Civic Suburb proposes to insert roofed vehicular “forecourts” into the nature strip, alternating with walled communal gardens. When the cars are away, these forecourts act as flexible enclosures for impromptu neighbourhood gatherings. 
By placing the cars on the street edge, Officer Woods shows how the concrete driveways of Melville’s battle-axe blocks could be reclaimed as linear green space. Empty garages could be converted into multipurpose “front rooms” housing shopfronts, living spaces, offices or granny flats. The separation of house and car also shrewdly anticipates the eventual obsolescence of the private automobile. 
Finally, capitalising on the increased activity of commerce and street life, second-storey “suburban apartments” could be built on top of predominantly single-level homes. This would add capacity without diminishing valuable open space.
<h2>Making suburban density desirable</h2>
In line with the competition brief, the forecourts, walled gardens and front rooms of Civic Suburb are imagined in solid brickwork. These brick elements are depicted in a beguiling array of forms, patterns and hues. 
While it’s hard to imagine typical suburban denizens erecting such artful and elaborate structures, it’s important that we not miss the wall for the bricks. The significance of this project lies not in its aesthetic qualities, but rather its spatial and strategic dimensions. 
The escalating pressure of increasing populations, changing demographics and property speculation on the scale and character of Australia’s suburbs is matched only by the intensity of resident opposition. Sunlight and privacy are key concerns. 
Anticipating this “not in my backyard” backlash, Civic Suburb doesn’t challenge the suburban backyard at all: it takes on the front yard instead. Most architect-designed suburban projects are clandestine additions at the rear, hidden from the street. Civic Suburb puts the area’s gradual transformation front and centre.
The value of such an overt strategy becomes clear in light of Perth’s current predicament. According to various metrics, Perth is Australia’s least dense city. If not for a handful of low-rise North American centres, Perth might be the least dense city in the world. 
With this in mind, you might imagine how an expected doubling of Perth’s population by 2050 could transform the sprawling city into a model of dense urbanism. Instead, according to the Perth and Peel@3.5 million report, 53% of the 800,000 new homes to be built by 2050 have been allocated fringe greenfield sites. 
The future Perth will look a lot like the present one, only larger and more spread out. Evidence of both political ploys and careless inaction, Perth’s increasing expansion demands alternative visions.
It’s important to understand why greenfield subdivision is such an expedient option. Most suburban redevelopment relies on acquisition and consolidation of multiple residential lots, or rezoning of commercial land. The replacement of individual properties and local businesses with collective housing complexes can lead to a loss of communal diversity and streetscape variation. 
Furthermore, to justify the huge expense of creating larger sites out of separate titles, private developers build as big and as cheaply as possible, forever impacting neighbourhood character.
<h2>DIY urbanism</h2>
Civic Suburb is a compelling proposition. It shows how underutilised suburban land could be intensified as an alternative to greenfield expansion and how this could occur without developers and consolidated lots.
An exercise in “do-it-yourself urbanism”, the project imagines an iterative increase in suburban density at the scale of the suburban plot – individual homeowners carry out the changes. It intensifies the use of existing spaces rather than relying on the acquisition of new land. 
While Officer Woods did not specify how shared ownership of communal carports and street gardens would be negotiated (it was only a competition entry, after all), such mechanisms exist. 
So-called “cluster planning” initiatives allow for the transfer of conventionally subdivided or publicly owned land into common property, owned and maintained by a collective body corporate. 
The transfer of ownership from local government to private citizenry is no simple matter. And the atomised nature of suburbia itself embodies a general aversion to sharing, which will have to be overcome.
In the 1950s, when suburbs like Melville last underwent rapid expansion, an average household numbered five occupants. Today, that average has nearly halved. The result is a disconnect between outward appearance and inner reality. Walking down a typical suburban street, we encounter large, multi-roomed dwellings whose many windows do not reflect the number of occupants. 
In this context, greater density might not mean an increase in built area. Instead, it could involve compartmentalisation into spaces better suited to smaller households and changing living conditions. A brave incursion into the no-man’s land of the street setback, Civic Suburb offers a compelling vision for incremental suburban transformation at the scale of the individual plot.
Grace Mortlock is research assistant and tutor, School of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grace-mortlock-305149" target="_blank">here</a>.
David Neustein is associate, School of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-neustein-305151" target="_blank">here</a>.
Both are authors for The Conversation.
 
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Reinventing density: overcoming the suburban setback

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The Kornhauser family has sold a South Yarra office building.
A Chinese developer paid $5.5 million for 72 River Street.
CBRE had five bidders who started at $3.5 million and went up in $500,000 increments.
There were three Chinese bidders.
It sold at $500,000 over reserve.
It was sold by Machpaela Pty Ltd, a company controlled by the Kornhauser family.
It paid $3.77 million in 2007 for the 400-square-metre site that came with a permit for 22 apartments.
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Kornhauser apartment site in South Yarra sold to Chinese developer

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GUEST OBSERVER
The Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016 was introduced into NSW Parliament on 8 November 2016 and when enacted, this legislation may make substantial amendments to many of the provisions of the current legislation, the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) (RLA), governing most retail shop leases in New South Wales.
Some of the changes proposed by the Bill have been outlined below but first we must mention that some of the Bill is intended to have retrospective application:
Retrospective operation of amendments
Clause 38 of the Bill gives retrospective operation to the provisions of the Bill and extends the operation of the Bill to any leases and disclosure statements given, before the commencement of the amendments except as otherwise provided by the Bill.
Major Reform - Repealing the minimum five year term
The Bill removes the current minimum five year term for retail shop leases; the original intent of the introduction of a minimum five year term was to afford greater protection to the goodwill built up by a tenant and to protect the investment a tenant has made in fit out.
The result of getting rid of the five year minimum lease may be that more leases are being structured with shorter terms. Before the RLA, many retail leases were only 3 years but the new norm is now 5 years. The proposal gives greater flexibility to tenants to ask for longer or shorter terms however the potential for shorter terms may result in a greater turnover of tenancies. This may in turn have a detrimental impact on other tenants who are left behind when a key tenant does not elect for a longer term.
However the removal of this provision may save time and costs for both parties. The minimum five year term was not a benefit to tenants who sought a lease for less than five years as they would need to pay legal fees to obtain a s16(3) certificate from a lawyer to do so.
Exclusion of non-retail uses from RLA’s operation
The Bill excludes premises used wholly for certain non-retail purposes from the operation of the RLA. The excluded purposes are outlined in a new Schedule 1A and include the following (among other things):
<ul>
<li>ATMs;</li>
<li>Car parking;</li>
<li>Vending machines;</li>
<li>Public telephones;</li>
<li>Children’s ride machines;</li>
<li>Signage displays;</li>
<li>Internet booths;</li>
<li>Private post boxes;</li>
<li>Certain storage uses.</li>
</ul>
The Bill also removes an exclusion from the RLA for any premises in an office tower that forms part of a retail shopping centre. This means that the removal of the provision is not to include office towers; the reasoning is because the original exception was unnecessary as an office tower does not form part of a retail shopping centre simply because it is part of the same building. However the removal of this exception retrospectively may create practical issues where premises that have initially been deemed to be excluded under this provision now may no longer be excluded based on their factual circumstance. By functioning retrospectively the amendments would greatly burden those parties.
Additionally, the Bill asserts that the provisions will not apply to a retail shop that is a stall in a market unless the market is a permanent retail market.
Better Tenant Protection
Other changes proposed by the Bill include:
Disclosure Statements
<ul>
<li>
Landlords will be liable to pay compensation to tenants who terminate a lease in the first six months because they were not provided with a disclosure statement, or the disclosure statement was incomplete or false or misleading.
<ul>
<li>The compensation payable is the costs reasonably incurred by the tenant in entering into the lease, including expenditure in connection with the fit-out of the premises.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>A tenant is not required to pay outgoings unless that liability was disclosed in the landlord’s disclosure statement.</li>
</ul>
Disclosure of tenant’s financial obligation
<ul>
<li>If the landlord’s disclosure statement provides an estimate for an outgoing and the actual amount of the outgoing is more than the estimate, then if there was no reasonable basis for the estimate when the disclosure statement was provided, the tenant’s liability will be limited to the estimated amount, and all subsequent increases in outgoing will be limited by reference to the estimated amount.</li>
</ul>
Bank guarantees
<ul>
<li>
The landlord is required to return a bank guarantee to the tenant within 2 months after the tenant completes performance of obligations under the lease that are secured by the bank guarantee.
<ul>
<li>This allows the tenant to have certainty about the return of the bank guarantee, but also affords the landlord sufficient time to confirm compliance by a tenant with post-termination obligations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Online Transactions
<ul>
<li>Turnover rent must exclude revenue accrued from online transactions, except where goods or services are delivered or provided from the retail shop or where the transaction takes place while the customer is at the retail shop.</li>
<li>The tenant is not required to provide the lessor with information about online transactions except for transactions where goods or services are delivered or provided from the retail shop or where the transaction takes place while the customer is at the retail shop.</li>
</ul>
Mortgagee consent expenses
<ul>
<li>The tenant is no longer required to pay lease preparation expenses (including expenses incurred in obtaining mortgage consent to a lease) in connection with the granting, renewal or extension of a lease.</li>
</ul>
Employment Restrictions
<ul>
<li>The employment restrictions the landlord has over the lease is extended to impose on a tenant requirements for police and security checks for tenant’s employees or contractors carrying out works in the premises. However, this is only if the Registrar of Retail Tenancy Disputes has approved of their inclusion in the particular case.</li>
</ul>
Amendments that may benefit Landlords
Disclosure statement
<ul>
<li>The revised definition of outgoings extends the definition to fees charged by a landlord for services provided by the landlord ‘in connection with the management, operation, maintenance or repair of the retail shop building or land’.</li>
<li>A landlord’s disclosure statement may be amended if both parties agree in writing.</li>
</ul>
Other general amendments
Demolition
<ul>
<li>The protections afforded to a tenant when the lease is terminated on the grounds of a proposal to demolish the building are extended to termination on the grounds of proposed demolition of any part of the building. Proposed changes also clarify that termination on the proposed demolition is only permissible if the proposed demolition cannot be carried out practicably without vacant possession of the shop.</li>
</ul>
Assignment of lease
<ul>
<li>There is clarification on the procedure for obtaining the landlord’s consent to the assignment of a retail shop lease, however the provision still includes a deemed consent by the landlord if the landlord has not responded within 28 days from when the request for consent was made by the tenant or from when the tenant has complied with the requirements under the RLA.</li>
<li>Where a retail shop lease has been awarded by public tender, the landlord can refuse consent to assignment of the lease if the proposed assignee fails to meet any criteria of the tender.</li>
</ul>
Jurisdiction of the Tribunal
<ul>
<li>There is an expansion of existing power of the jurisdiction of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal and an increase to the monetary limit for claims arising under the RLA from $400,000 to $750,000.</li>
</ul>
Lease execution and registration 
<ul>
<li>The time period for which the landlord is required to provide the tenant with a signed copy of the lease has increased from 1 month to 3 months.</li>
<li>Leases for a term of more than 3 years will be required to be registered, and must be lodged for registration within 3 months after the executed lease is returned to the landlord.</li>
</ul>
Conclusion
Currently there is no guarantee that this Bill will be passed, and the Bill will likely undergo further discussion and amendments before it is enacted. Parties involved in retail leases as tenants or landlords however should be aware of the potential changes to the Bill as they will be expected to comply with the new requirements when the Bill is passed as the legislation will not only apply to future retail leases but also leases entered into before the enactment of the legislation.
Gary Newton is partner TressCox Lawyers and Henry Yuan is paralegal. Both can be contacted <a href="https://www.tresscox.com.au/page/our-expertise/property/" target="_blank">here</a>.
</body></html>

Proposed amendments to the NSW Retail Leases Act may affect retail landlords, tenants 

Developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/bottega-property-group">Bottega House</a> has secured council approval for its first Brisbane project - a $270 million luxury residential development on an absolute riverfront site in leafy St Lucia.&nbsp;

The 15-storey project, known as <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/st-lucia-by-bottega-house-180-macquarie-street-st-lucia-qld-4067">St Lucia by Bottega House</a> , will occupy a prime north-facing site at 178-180 Macquarie Street, directly fronting the Brisbane River in the established inner-west suburb known for its rowing clubs, golf courses and sprawling University of Queensland campus.&nbsp;

St Lucia by Bottega House will feature a suite of amenities including dedicated wellness spaces, a mineral pool and cold plunge. The project has been positioned to attract affluent owner-occupiers seeking high-quality, house-sized apartments.&nbsp;

Bottega House has been set up by co-directors Nick Malloch, Louis Mennes and Craig Marsh.

Malloch said the project drew inspiration from its Brisbane River setting and leafy inner-west surrounds, while responding to the demands of discerning locals looking to transition from freestanding homes into apartment living.&nbsp;

"With an expansive river frontage and lush green surrounds, we knew we had to create something special that reflects the natural beauty of the location while offering residents masterfully crafted homes," said Malloch.&nbsp;

"Our intent was to complement the project's quiet, private setting by introducing residences that offer a calm retreat and sanctuary from the everyday. The result is a harmonious blend of architecture, interiors and amenity that emphasises wellbeing, comfort and beauty without excess."&nbsp;

Malloch added that project consultants had been carefully selected in alignment with Bottega House's commitment to care, quality and attention to detail. The design team includes architects <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/plus-studio">Plus Studio</a>, interiors practice <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/interior-designers/mim-design">Mim Design</a> and landscaping by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/urbis">Urbis</a>.&nbsp;

Three-bedroom apartments are expected to start around $5 millio. Selling agents Keenan &amp; Byrne said the pricing strategy for the project was anticipated to achieve upwards of $25,500 per square metre.&nbsp;

The project's development approval this week follows the success of Bottega House's inaugural Queensland project - a 22-storey collection of full-floor sky homes at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast which included the sale of a two-storey penthouse at a record price for a beachside residence.&nbsp;

St Lucia by Bottega House is expected to launch to market in November, with construction anticipated to be completed mid 2029.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=151826]

Joel Robinson

Bottega House to make Brisbane debut with St Lucia riverfront apartment development

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Property Group</a> is advancing its affordable apartment model into Brisbane with the acquisition of another site at Cordelia Street in South Brisbane for $27 million.

Sherpa, which has a $1.7 billion pipeline across Southeast Queensland, intends to bring a cohort of apartments exclusively for first homebuyers into its proposed 186-apartment project to be built at 2 Cordelia Street.

The Sherpa model has already been incredibly well received from their Gold Coast projects, where Sherpa Group set aside a number of apartments exclusively for first homebuyers.

The new $320 million project marks Sherpa Group's second development in Brisbane, following its $255 million Symphony project, also on Cordelia Street, which is currently under construction.

Symphony will deliver 146 apartments across 28 levels, offering a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. With 114 already sold, construction by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/lps-group">LPS Group</a> is scheduled for completion in 2028.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=7574 project_image_fid=351654]

Sherpa Founder, Christie Leet, said the company was excited to be venturing into Brisbane for its second residential project.

“We’re big believers in the future of Brisbane as we lead into the 2032 Olympics and beyond,” Leet said.

“The success of Symphony has guided us into what will be our second project and we look forward to submitting our plans with council soon so we can deliver yet another quality project to the inner city residential market.

“Our Flourish model has been very well received both in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and we’re excited to be able to offer some of these apartments again exclusively to first homebuyers to help get them into the property market.

“The model has been extraordinarily well received in our previous projects and it is something we are committed to moving forward.”

2 Cordelia Street will be designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/hal-architects">HAL Architects</a> &amp; Finegrain and will include Sherpa’s signature residential amenities including pool, gym, recreation, wellness and work from home spaces.

The project will feature ground-floor commercial space, creating a vibrant amenity for residents and the surrounding community.

A development application will be lodged with Brisbane City Council in August on the code compliant site and will be launched to the market early 2027.

Sherpa acquires new site for second Brisbane apartment tower

One of North Sydney's best-known commercial buildings could become hundreds of new homes, with insurance giant Zurich Australia lodging a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) to transform 5 Blue Street into a mixed-use residential development above North Sydney Station.

Rather than demolishing the existing building and starting again, Zurich is proposing an adaptive reuse project that would convert the landmark office building into a 15-level residential development delivering 62 apartments, 86 affordable co-living dwellings, activated retail and significant upgrades to the Blue Street Plaza.

The proposal reflects a growing trend of commercial property owners repositioning ageing office assets into residential housing as Sydney grapples with housing supply shortages and changing workplace demand.

<img alt="Zurich" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0bba7d12-06dc-4375-aad7-238c94b21ac5" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%2010.42.05%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=NJl5oLAEBDGuPmY3RnyliKODjMc8lvRh" />

Located directly above North Sydney Metro and train station, the 3,051 sqm site occupies one of the most strategically positioned parcels of land on Sydney's Lower North Shore.

Designed by fjcstudio, the proposal seeks to retain and adapt much of the existing structure while creating a contemporary residential address that better connects with the public domain surrounding North Sydney Station.

The application proposes two basement levels, ground floor retail, affordable co-living accommodation across the podium levels, and apartments above, while preserving and enhancing the publicly accessible Blue Street Plaza.

Rather than pursuing maximum apartment numbers, Zurich has opted for a housing mix heavily weighted towards larger owner-occupier residences.

The proposal includes 62 build-to-sell apartments comprising 12 one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, 29 three-bedroom apartments and two premium penthouses. It also incorporates 86 affordable co-living dwellings, which would be managed in perpetuity by a Community Housing Provider.

That balance between traditional apartments and affordable housing reflects the NSW Government's push to increase housing diversity around major transport infrastructure.

The proposal has been lodged concurrently with a rezoning application, with Zurich arguing the site is ideally positioned to support additional housing given its immediate proximity to public transport, employment and services.

"The proposal aims to respond to the housing challenges facing Sydney through the delivery of diverse housing types in a highly accessible location," the design report by fjcstudio states. It also seeks to improve pedestrian amenity through upgrades to Blue Street Plaza while creating a high-performing residential building that responds to the surrounding context.

<img alt="Zurich" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="36082e15-c636-4481-bb68-5a5f6443fe39" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%2010.41.36%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=5P6VD.fvmqjQfIG3TWWMRXxQWiQBjeFB" />

Rather than replacing the commercial building, fjcstudio has developed a design that works with the existing structural framework above the rail corridor, an approach that significantly reduces demolition while allowing the site to be repositioned as a mixed-use residential precinct.

The existing structural constraints have informed much of the building's design, including its relationship with Blue Street and surrounding public spaces.

The building has been designed as a slender tower rising above a clearly defined podium, with vertically expressed façades intended to reduce the perceived bulk while reinforcing North Sydney's emerging skyline.

According to fjcstudio, the architectural language responds directly to the surrounding commercial towers while maintaining a finer grain expression more closely aligned with the neighbouring Lavender Bay streetscape.

The tower incorporates articulated façade elements, landscaped podium edges and recessed upper levels to soften its appearance and improve pedestrian amenity below.

A significant component of the proposal is the revitalisation of Blue Street Plaza.

The existing public space has long served as one of the primary pedestrian connections between North Sydney Station, Greenwood Plaza and Blue Street, yet its role is expected to become even more important following the opening of Sydney Metro.

Zurich's proposal seeks to strengthen that role by improving landscaping, introducing new retail frontages, enhancing pedestrian permeability and creating more active edges throughout the day and evening.

Ground floor retail would wrap the plaza, while separate residential and co-living entries have been designed to improve wayfinding without reducing street activation.

Landscape design has been integrated throughout the podium and public realm, softening what is currently one of the most heavily urbanised parts of North Sydney.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

fjcstudio has carefully oriented apartments towards Sydney Harbour and the CBD while using privacy blades and articulated façades to minimise overlooking between neighbouring buildings.

Large framed openings along the western elevation maximise harbour outlooks, while the eastern apartments have been angled towards the south-east to improve privacy from neighbouring development.

The project forms part of the continuing transformation of North Sydney from a predominantly commercial CBD into a genuine mixed-use city centre.

Since the completion of Victoria Cross Metro Station, developers have increasingly shifted their attention towards residential projects capable of leveraging the area's unparalleled transport connectivity.

&nbsp;

FiveX recently lodged plans for a 61-storey, 490-apartment tower that would become one of the tallest residential buildings in North Sydney if approved.

Aqualand continues to expand its Lower North Shore presence following the completion of AURA on Walker Street and its recent St Leonards and Roseville proposals.

Developers are also progressing projects throughout Walker Street, Miller Street and the Victoria Cross precinct as demand for well-located owner-occupier apartments continues to strengthen.

First look: Zurich targets North Sydney office conversion with 148-unit proposal above Metro station

Busy developer Aqualand Prestige has formally taken the next step in its expansion across Sydney's Lower North Shore, lodging a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) for its long-held Archer Street site in Chatswood.

The application covers <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/51-55-archer-street-chatswood-nsw-2067">51-55 Archer Street</a>, a 1,767 sqm amalgamated site on the eastern edge of the Chatswood CBD, where the developer is seeking approval for a 45-level mixed-use tower delivering 114 apartments, including a significant affordable housing component, alongside retail, commercial space and six basement levels of parking.

The SSDA marks the latest milestone for a project Aqualand has been quietly progressing over the past two years. The developer first secured the site for its Aqualand Prestige platform before undertaking an alternative design excellence process with PTW Architects, ultimately avoiding a formal design competition through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway.

The proposal has evolved considerably from Aqualand's original concept. The revised scheme has been designed around larger owner-occupier product, with an unusually high proportion of three and four-bedroom apartments, targeting the more affluent buyer profile, and downsizer, emerging across the North Shore.

<img alt="Archer St" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0171204c-5811-41b5-9b09-2335d1b7c3d0" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-22%20at%208.52.48%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=6YTuxfq.puZo7k2wbfgemcO5K3QfXYGQ" />

The 114-apartment mix comprises six studios, 27 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments, 50 three-bedroom residences and 13 four-bedroom homes. A quarter of the building will be dedicated to affordable housing, well above the mandated 15 per cent&nbsp;

PTW has structured the building vertically, with affordable housing across levels one to six, premium apartments through levels seven to 31, duplex skyhomes on klevels 32 to 43, a penthouse on level 44, and a rooftop plant level above. Six basement levels will provide resident parking and servicing.

The tower is proposed to reach approximately 154 metres, placing it among a growing collection of residential high-rises transforming Chatswood's skyline.

Rather than competing purely on height, PTW says the design has been driven by creating a slimmer tower capable of delivering significantly larger apartments.

"The primary objective of this project was to create a distinctive building that stands out from the recently approved or built structures in the Chatswood area," the design report states, noting the structural efficiency allows greater investment into apartment quality and resident amenity.

Residents would have access to more than 450 sqm of communal open space including landscaped gardens, swimming pool, rooftop entertaining areas, fitness spaces, community gardens, children's play areas and barbecue facilities.

A major focus of the design has been the public domain.

The ground plane has been opened up through landscaped terraces inspired by Willoughby's sandstone ridges, with native planting, public seating, artwork, retail activation and a series of gathering spaces intended to soften what has traditionally been a hard commercial streetscape.

The landscape strategy references Blue Gum forests once common throughout the area, while incorporating Indigenous storytelling, public art and lighting installations to strengthen the connection to Country.

Chatswood has been one of Sydney's busiest apartment markets over the past 12 months, with a steady pipeline of both new project launches and fresh development applications.

Hyecorp recently launched Celine, a 122-apartment development just along Archer Street, while Changfa and Huirong Group are progressing The Anderson, an 84-apartment project on Anderson Street.

Develotek recently secured approval for a 101-apartment tower on Pacific Highway, while Tian An LFD received the green light for Hammond Greens, its apartment development on the edge of the Chatswood Bowling Club.

Commercial property developer FiveX is also making its move into the residential market. Last month it lodged plans for a 61-storey tower with 490 apartments, which, if approved, would become one of the tallest residential buildings in Chatswood.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-fivex-targets-chatswood-skyline-with-61-storey-tower-after-north-sydney-plans">First look: FiveX targets Chatswood skyline with 61-storey tower after North Sydney plans</a>

Aqualand is also expanding its development pipeline following the launch of its luxury residential brand, Aqualand Prestige. The developer has delivered a string of high-end apartment projects across Sydney's affluent suburbs over the past decade, most recently AURA by Aqualand on Walker Street in North Sydney.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=30959 project_image_fid=292863]

It has since quietly assembled its next wave of projects.

Earlier this year Aqualand launched Boronia in Roseville, a boutique 111-apartment development on Larkin Street. The project is one of the first significant apartment developments to launch in the suburb ahead of what is expected to become one of Sydney's most active new housing precincts under the NSW Government's Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms, which allow greater density around train stations.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152095 project_image_fid=373685]

The developer has also lodged plans for a two-tower, 413-apartment development on Herbert Street in nearby St Leonards, further strengthening its presence across the Lower North Shore.

Beyond that, Aqualand remains behind the final stage of Barangaroo, where plans will deliver a five-hectare mixed-use precinct comprising new homes, retail, hospitality and community facilities, alongside a new Metro entrance and more than two hectares of public open space, completing the Barangaroo precinct.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/central-barangaroo-development-takes-big-step-with-concept-proposal-approval">Central Barangaroo development takes big step with concept proposal approval</a>

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-aqualand-joins-st-leonards-apartment-party">First look: Aqualand joins St Leonards apartment party</a> 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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First look: Aqualand pushes ahead with Chatswood apartment tower as SSDA lodged for Archer Street

Mass timber is becoming an increasingly popular construction material in apartment developments, but Adelaide developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/otello">Otello</a> is taking the approach a step further.

At its new <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flowe-bowden-18-gibson-street-bowden-sa-5007">Flowe Bowden</a> development, the exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure isn't just about reducing the building's environmental footprint. It also forms the foundation of a broader wellness strategy, influencing everything from indoor air quality and natural materials to the way residents move through and experience the building.

The 115-apartment mixed-use development, designed by Melbourne-based architecture practice Fieldwork, will occupy a prominent island site opposite Bowden Village Reserve, combining one, two and three-bedroom apartments with retail and a dedicated wellness destination.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375528]

Wellness isn't confined to a gym or shared resident facility at Flowe. Instead, Fieldwork embedded the concept into the building itself.

The development has been split into two residential wings connected by a naturally ventilated central breezeway, replacing traditional enclosed corridors with open-air walkways that improve natural light, encourage cross ventilation and create more opportunities for neighbourly interaction.

"Rather than treating wellness as something that only happens on the ground floor, our response integrates it throughout the building, which led us to ask what it really means to design a healthy building," Fieldwork Director Quino Holland said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375531]

The building's architecture also reflects Bowden's industrial heritage. The lower podium references the area's historic brick and sandstone buildings, while the upper levels transition to exposed CLT, allowing the timber structure to become a defining feature throughout the apartments and shared spaces.

The use of mass timber sits alongside a range of sustainability initiatives, including a fully electric, gas-free design, rooftop solar and a targeted 5 Star Green Star rating.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375524]

Inside the residences, the focus remains on natural, durable materials. Blackbutt engineered timber flooring, exposed CLT ceilings, porcelain surfaces and warm timber joinery create a calming interior palette, while low-VOC finishes and responsibly sourced materials have been selected to improve indoor air quality.

Kitchens have been designed as the centrepiece of each apartment, featuring porcelain island benchtops, timber-look cabinetry and brushed steel tapware, with layouts that maximise natural light and ventilation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152022 project_image_fid=375530]

The more traditional interpretation of wellness comes in the form of Level Eleven, a two-storey wellness club spanning the ground floor, mezzanine and first floor.

The facility will include a gym, yoga and reformer Pilates studios, Finnish and infrared saunas, magnesium hot and cold plunge pools, and dedicated recovery spaces. Unlike many residential wellness facilities, Level Eleven will also operate commercially, allowing the broader Bowden community to access the venue while giving residents exclusive membership benefits.

The ground floor has also been designed around everyday living. A café overlooking Bowden Village Reserve will activate the street frontage, while a bike workshop with tool storage, co-working space and dog wash has been incorporated to support daily routines and encourage interaction between residents.

"Flowe brings together my two biggest passions, creating places and creating healthier lives," Otello founder Daniel Harris said.

"We wanted to create something Adelaide hasn't seen before, a genuinely healthy building, where the way you live is lifted without even trying."

Flowe is positioned directly opposite Bowden Village Reserve and within walking distance of Bowden Railway Station and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, placing future residents just minutes from the Adelaide CBD while remaining connected to one of the city's most established urban renewal precincts.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=152022]

Jonathan Chancellor

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