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The Mermaid Beach retreat of the former Australian cricket team vice-captain Shane Watson has been sold at $1,175,000.
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The <a href="/news/all-rounder-shane-watson-bowls-up-mermaid-beach-townhouse">four bedroom Malibu on Lavarack duplex villa</a> was bought by an owner occupier.
It was <a href="https://www.harcourts.com.au/Property/568095/QHT24622/14a-Lavarack-Road" target="_blank">listed through Chez Fraser of Harcourts Coastal</a> who issued more than a handful of contracts during its marketing campaign.
The north-facing 539 square metre property, which attracts weekly rentals between $900 and $950, comes with four-car basement garage. 
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The Queensland born Watson, who went to school at Ipswich Grammar bought the four-level villa at 14a Lavarack Rd off the plan for $1.34 million in 2006.
The other side of the duplex fetched $1,475,000 on the 2007 completion of the four bedroom, four bathroom townhouse.
<a href="/news">Mermaid Beach</a>'s median house price sits at $870,000, according to RP Data.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Cricketer Shane Watson sells Mermaid Beach investment at Gold Coast auction

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Wine entrepreneurs Katrina and Russell Leslie have spent possibly around $12 million on Mosman's Little Sirius Cove.
Their harbourfront property purchase on Curraghbeena Road is the mansion listed by by Anne Clarke and her husband Greg Clarke, the former head of Lend Lease who moved to England in 2010.
The six-bedroom residence last traded in 2007 for $14.5 million when it was sold by Ellen and Ken Borda.
The sale was first reported by Title Tattle in the recent end of financial year top 20 house sales list, <a href="/news/eastern-suburbs-dominate-title-tattles-list-of-sydneys-top-20-sales-of-the-2013-14-financial-year">slotted in at 17th place</a>.
The Scottish-born chartered accountant, Russell Leslie is a retired Macquarie Group investment banker who launched himself into the Hunter wine industry in 2005.
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Wine entrepreneurs buy on Mosman harbourfront: Title Tattle top 20 update

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The merchant banker Jim Dominguez and his wife Suzanne have sold their Palm Beach weekender, Mandalay.
It has been bought by the hedge fund trader Daniel Droga, founder of DCM Bluelake Partners, and his wife Lyndell.
The Florida Road offering through <a href="https://66-68floridaroad.com" target="_blank">LJ Hooker Palm Beach agent David Edwards and Peter Robinson secured $6.65 million</a>. The couple initially were seeking a reported $8 million plus when they listed their 25 year long weekender last year.
Title Tattle suggests the property sale signifies the baton change at the pricey peninsula from merchant banking dominance to hedge fund traders, as now having the deeper pockets.
The merchant banking takeover of Palmie actually kicked off in 1988 when then Hunters Hill merchant banker Dominguez snapped up the double block for just $215,000. Jim Dominguez, then principal of Dominguez Barry Samuel Montagu, helped Sydney get its harbour tunnel.
Enriched old-timers were departing the peninsula, which had quaint neighbourhood nicknames like Pill Hill because of the prevalence of Macquarie Street doctors.
The injection of merchant banking buyers saw in 1990 the 2,200 square metre Moonrising property bought by Woollahra merchant banker Stephen Higgs for a record $3 million.
Woollahra merchant banker Rob Barry and wife, Mary, then spent $2.2 million in 1992.
Tehongi, on Florida Road, sold for $1.9 million to Mosman merchant banker Chris Roberts and wife, Frances, in 1993.
Merchant banker Rob Rankin bought a property in 1995 for $852,500.
Next came the wave of advertising industry types.
The first signs of hedge fund traders came around 2005 and 2006, but it was following the global financial crisis that hedge fund traders became a dominant force within the buyers highlighted in 2010 when hedge fund manager Paul Henry and his wife, Belinda paid $14 million for the Hayson family's lavish modern residence on a 1575 square metre block in Pacific Road.
Their prior Florida Road house had cost $4.1 million in 2006.
Trevor Easterbrook, a hedge fund specialist in Hong Kong, and his wife, Nikki, paid $4.1 million in 2006 for the Priory at <a href="/news">Palm Beach</a>, but stayed only briefly.
Expatriate hedge-fund operative Greg Coffey, the London spent $7.75 million on a <a href="/news">Whale Beach</a> weekender in 2006.
In 2008 Tropique, a vacant 1,874-square-metre Ocean Road holding, was 2008's coastal NSW top seller when sold after five decades' ownership by the Deaton family for $12 million to the late John Morrison, who was the Zurich-based global chief executive of Man Investments.
In 2009 John Balderstone, who was then at one of the world's biggest hedge funds, Tudor Investment Corp, and his wife, Deb, the film producer who worked on Dirty Deeds, consolidated two adjoining waterfronts totalling 1,263 square metres on Barrenjoey Road following the departure of Dagmar O'Brien, who was among the first two female racers in the 1946 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. 
Ofcourse prior to the arrival of the hedge fund traders at Palm Beach, the term hedge referred to the buxus kind, often attracting headlines when neighbours installed the fast-growing, view-blocking plants causing many a neighbourly relationship to sour.
The Dominguez's aren't actually leaving Palmie for good, just downsizing to an apartment instead in the Winten complex.
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Dominguez to Droga: Baton change from merchant banker to hedge fund trader at Palmie

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Newcastle Knights player Willie Mason has secured around $2.5 million for his Clovelly investment home.
<a href="https://www.belleproperty.com/40P0815" target="_blank">The two-bedroom semi </a>was passed in at its 21 June auction with no bids.
The Newcastle Knights forward property auction <a href="/news/newcastle-knights-prop-willie-mason-lists-clovelly-property-title-tattle">had attracted three registered parties</a>.
The two-bedroom designer semi opposite Clovelly Baths with views of Wedding Cake Island was bought in 2007 when the NRL player paid $2.3 million.
Subsequent negotiations to a local through Belle Property Bondi Junction Daniel Gillespie has secured its sale, but no sale price disclosure.
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Newcastle Knight Willie Mason sells Clovelly investment property

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This Auckland, New Zealand offering is a long bushland setting in the land of the long white cloud.
The Birkenhead Point property is marketed as a "rare and idyllic slice of paradise".
Some 12,329 square metres of native bush, 10 minutes by ferry or car to the Auckland CBD. Birkenhead is located on the north shore of the Waitemata Harbour.
Two properties each with one home make up the offering, one at 95C Hinemoa Street and an adjoining site at 11 Learmonth Avenue.
"Together they present an unprecedented prospect for development, or the canvas for a truly unique, park-like private dwelling," the Bayleys listing agent Malcolm Low said.
The <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.bayleys.co.nz/Listings/Auckland/North-Shore-City/Birkenhead-Point/1450228" target="_blank">tender closes July 17. </a>
Lows suggests buyers will construct several high-end residences.
With jobs as well as amenities, the former Reserve Bank chairman and economist Arthur Grimes recently suggested Auckland increasingly drew people from within New Zealand, returning Kiwis and from Australia and elsewhere.
"Other cities were good-looking, but Auckland had jobs as well as amenities," he told the stuff website.
Property prices in Auckland continue to rise despite lending restrictions and higher interest rates withy figures released this week by QV show the Auckland market increased 12.3% year on year.
Values are up 31.4% since 2007 peak.
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Long slice of residential Auckland bushland listed

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The television series Seinfeld  began 25 years ago.
Title Tattle takes a quick poke around the one bedroom apartment.
The Spanish interior designer Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/435230751458438614/" target="_blank">sells the sketches</a>.
They are as neat as Jerry Seinfeld had it. 
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/seinfeld-july-4-one.jpg" alt="">
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Jerry Seinfeld's New York apartment internals: 25 years retrospective

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Australia’s significant investor visa scheme appears caught up in allegations by China’s state broadcaster that the Bank of China had set up a “grey channel” to get rich mainlanders’ cash out of China.
Forbes Magazine and The Australian Financial Review reported China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, accused the bank of assisting money laundering to North America, Australia and some countries in Europe.
Australia’s visa scheme, launched in November 2012, offers wealthy people a permanent residency if they invest more than $5 million in Australia.
However, Chinese nationals are typically limited to transferring just US$50,000 annually out of the country. 
Some Chinese managed to get around controls by owning a trading company based in Hong Kong with the funds transferred from there. One Bank of China branch in Guangdong Province sent about 6 billion renminbi, or about $1 billion, out of the country, according to the CCTV report.
An unnamed Australian official working in China told the AFR the visa scheme would be affected in the short-term by the allegations and any investigation. The CCTV report on money-launder­ing via a scheme called You Huitong, translated as You Uncapped, had footage showing the Australian flag on a Bank of China stand at a busy emigration fair, advertising Australia as an important destination for investors. 
In an investigative report CCTV said Bank of China offered to help clients prepare or even “fake” the required ­documents so they could get money out of China.
But the Bank of China denied CCTV’s allegations issuing a statement saying You Huitong is a legal investment programme permitted under a wider pilot project testing the opening of China’s tight capital account. BOC said CCTV’s story based on the undercover investigation “contain discrepancies with and misunderstanding of the facts.”
The New York Times sinosphere blog has subsequently<a href="https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/battle-between-2-state-giants-cctv-and-bank-of-china-unravels/?module=BlogPost-Title&amp;version=Blog%20Main&amp;contentCollection=World&amp;action=Click&amp;pgtype=Blogs&amp;region=Body" target="_blank"> suggested the matter is a battle between two Chinese state giants</a>.
Back in Australia a spokesman for assistant minister for Immigration Michaelia Cash said the government “has robust integrity measures in place to ensure that the SIV programme is not targeted by ­economic fugitives or used for money laundering.”
Recipients must invest $5 million into a qualifying Australian fund for a period of four years, allowing them and their immediate family to receive fast-tracked permanent residency.
By the end of June, around 286 of the special investment visas had been granted with a further 610 applications being processed. Chinese nationals account for around nine out of 10 applicants.
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Australian SIV scheme caught up in possible China crackdown on money laundering

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Construction on the former Yorkshire Brewery heritage site<a href="https://www.theyorkshire.com.au/index" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;"> </a>in Collingwood has begun with a six-storey complex with a mix of one and two and three bedroom apartments along with townhouses. 
It is a 358 apartment development in Melbourne’s inner northeast where the one bedders start at $455,000, the two bedrooms from $595,000, and townhouses from $700,000. The site was bought for $9.79 million in 2010.
The heritage site on Robert Street and Waterloo Road includes an 1887 six-storey brew tower - the tallest building in Melbourne for a decade on its construction in the late 19th century.
There will be a series of laneways that connecting into the nearby streets, with the tower forecourt acting as a piazza-like setting.
Working closely with Lovell Chen heritage architects, <a href="https://www.theyorkshire.com.au/index" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Hayball architects viewed the development as on the scale of a small village</a>, with its own piazza and shops. 
Interestingly two of the apartments – a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom – are being held back to be retained by the developer for the sole use of visitors of permanent block residents. The share apartments are billed as a worthy step up from share parking spots or cars which other developers have embraced.
A concierge will manage reservations for the guest apartments. 
Costs have been suggested as likely between $90 to $150 per night, including cleaning and utility services.
Stays will be capped at several nights for each visitor to stop long-term occupancies.
Martin Strode from SMA Projects conceived the novel idea which Victoria’s Urban Development Institute of Australia boss, Tony de Domenico reckons will work especially as Melbourne gets more international visitors.
Early buying interest has been from local empty nesters, second-home buyers and investors, visiting the display suite at 84 Wellington Street, Collingwood. 
HE SAID:<img src="/images/2014/03/28/jc-silhouette-7.jpg" alt="" style="float: right;">
It is a great idea especially given so many residents have one bedders and would like friends close, but not on their apartment floor or couch.
Visitors too will have their own privacy and space, but in close proximity.
The developer has to commit long term to ownership and then operating the arrangement otherwise it will become quite fly by night hazard. 
It's not for all, so it is important that usage charges would not be added to everyone's body corporate fees.
<img src="/images/2014/03/28/mb-silhouette-6.jpg" alt="" style="float: left;">SHE SAID:
It's a great idea... a bit like airbnb for the lazy. And of course a better return for the landlord developer.
Owner buyers will save money as they won’t need to spend more for that extra bedroom.
Getting a booking could be a challenge especially during the football season finals apparently and even over Christmas time in the heat of Melbourne summer.
I'd imagine the rates might need to get a bit more commercial, especially with the cleaning thrown in. 
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Designated guest apartments in new residential blocks: He Said/She Said

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Grocon has secured funding arrangements for its $110 million Bouverie Street Apartments development at the former Carlton brewery site in Melbourne.
Qualitas is an equity partner and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, <a href="https://bouveriest.com.au" target="_blank">the project</a> debt financier.
Bouverie St Apartments follows the full sellout of Swanston Square apartments, Grocon’s first residential development at the site, which is due for completion early next year.
The 225 apartments and town houses in the Bouverie St Apartments development have attracted strong interest from investors, university students and young professionals, selling at a rate of 50 apartments a month. Prices start from around $379,000 through Colliers.
The development incorporates a winter garden designed by ARM architects which provides public access to covered gardens and retail tenancies.
Phil Lydeamore from Grocon Group Capital said there would be further development of another 0.9 hectares which remains over four sites.
Construction is now set to commence on Bouverie Street Apartments which are due to be completed early in 2016.
Grocon partnered with Studio 505 architects for design of the latest project.
Grocon paid the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology $39 million for the 1.6 hectare former brewery in 2006.
A brewery occupied the site for more than a century, from about 1858 to 1987, having had houses on the block from as early as the 1840s. 
<img src="/images/2014/07/11/melbourne%20july%2011.jpg" alt="">
 
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Grocon's Bouverie Street Apartments securing 50 sales a month

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Bec and Lleyton Hewitt have adjusted the price guidance on their three-storey Palm Beach retreat.
They initially were seeking more than $5.5 million. <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-palm+beach-116248643" target="_blank">Late last month the guidance was reduced</a> to $5 million plus.
They married in July 2005, having settled the property purchase just two weeks before. The Palm Beach Road house cost $4.4 million. 
The couple, parents to three kids, Mia, Cruz and Ava, live mostly in the Bahamas, buying a home in Nassau in 2009 for $3.8 million.
The now redundant Sydney northern beaches' weekender is listed with Glenn Lee of Raine &amp; Horne Palm Beach.
Meanwhile Australia's former consul-general in New York, businessman Phillip Scanlan and his wife Julie secured around $5 million earlier this month for their Palm Beach retreat on Florida Road. 
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Lleyton Hewitt adjusts Palm Beach holiday home price net

Kew has long been regarded as one of Melbourne's premier residential suburbs. It's a location defined by its grand period homes, leafy streets and some of the city's most prestigious schools, yet it has often sat just outside the spotlight cast on neighbouring Hawthorn and Camberwell.

Increasingly, however, buyers are recognising that Kew offers much of what draws people to those suburbs, with a quieter residential setting, exceptional amenity and long-term owner-occupier appeal.

Within a few minutes' walk, residents can access Kew Junction, one of Melbourne's most established village centres. Cafés, bakeries, restaurants, supermarkets, boutique retailers and everyday services are all on the doorstep, with local favourites including Centonove, Adeney Milk Bar Cafe, and Frank &amp; Harri creating the type of walkable lifestyle that has become increasingly difficult to find in Melbourne's inner east. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood, Glenferrie Road's renowned shopping and dining precinct in Hawthorn and the retail, dining and entertainment offerings of Camberwell Junction are both just a short drive or tram ride away.

The suburb is equally well connected. Tram routes 48 and 109 provide direct access to the CBD, while High Street and Cotham Road connect residents to the wider inner east.&nbsp;Nearby access to the Eastern Freeway also places the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne Airport within easy reach, adding another layer of convenience for weekend travel.&nbsp;It's a rare combination of connectivity and tranquillity, where quiet residential streets sit just moments from some of Melbourne's most established shopping and lifestyle precincts.

For families, Kew remains one of Melbourne's most tightly held addresses. Carey Baptist Grammar School, Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College, Trinity Grammar, Ruyton Girls' School and Genazzano FCJ College are all nearby, while the Yarra River parklands, walking trails and sporting clubs provide another layer of lifestyle appeal.

It's within this established pocket that developer Ricdanic is delivering <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/wimba-ave-kew-9-11-wimba-avenue-kew-vic-3101">Wimba Ave</a>, a boutique collection of just 13 residences across two buildings named after its location on the tree-lined Wimba Avenue,&nbsp;within one of Kew's most prestigious pockets where homes have been known to sell up to and above $8 million.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=140755 project_image_fid=354809]

The residences prioritise the space that buyers are increasingly searching for but struggling to find in established suburbs. Living areas extend beyond five metres in width, ceiling heights range from three to five metres, and apartments open onto private gardens averaging around 125 sqm. Selected residences also feature balconies of approximately 60 sqm, while premium inclusions include Miele appliances, double-glazed windows, EV readiness, fully electric systems and a 7.2 NatHERS energy rating.

Architect Chris Idle says opportunities to deliver homes of this scale within established suburbs have become increasingly uncommon.

"There are very few opportunities to do these kinds of developments in leafy, established suburbs," he says. "To get this level of amenity, natural light, and architectural freedom in such a setting is extremely rare."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=140755 project_image_fid=366267]

The architecture draws on Kew's established character through the use of handmade Krause bricks, while landscaping by John Patrick introduces 23 plant species, including nine native varieties, creating an environment which focuses just as much on nature as it does the building.

Construction on Wimba Ave is well underway by renowned high-end builder Sinjen, with completion expected in late 2027. Prices start from $2.22 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=140755]

Joel Robinson

The enduring appeal of Kew's tree-lined streets and village lifestyle

"For me, it's the location." That was the first thing Chris pointed to when reflecting on why he and his wife Marita decided to purchase at Candela Ivanhoe, the under-construction new apartment development by Salter Brothers in the heart of the north-eastern M​elb​ourne​ suburb. ​

"We've lived here before… everything is here," Chris said.

"Our doctor is around the corner, there's dentists, pilates, everything we need, restaurants, fast food places, two train stations, Ivanhoe and Darebin, both in walking distance. You don't need anything else."

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X8K0Bozug7A?si=Puwc6vx_ZO0qQZF8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

Just 10 kilometres from Melbo​urn​e's CBD, Ivanhoe combines direct city connectivity with the amenity of an established village community. Residents have access to highly regarded schools, expansive parklands, public transport, and a thriving retail and hospitality precinct centred around Upper Heidelberg Road, all within a neighbourhood that has retained its leafy character despite its proximity to the city.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/candela-ivanhoe-40-upper-heidelberg-road-ivanhoe-vic-3079">Candela Ivanhoe</a> sits within the heart of this established landscape, positioned just moments from Ivanhoe Village and within walking distance of many of the suburb's most sought-after amenities.

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From Candela, residents can access cafés, grocers, wine bars, restaurants and essential services on foot, while Ivanhoe Station and Darebin Station provide direct connectivity across Mel​bour​ne. The development is also surrounded by some of the suburb's best-known lifestyle destinations, including Pinkie, Laurent, Enni, Docasa and Woodfire Pizza e Cucina, alongside Ivanhoe Plaza, Woolworths, pharmacies and specialty retailers.

Green space is another defining feature of the suburb. Darebin Parklands, Ivanhoe Park, Nellie Ibbot Park and the Yarra River trail network provide extensive opportunities for recreation, while Ivanhoe Golf Course and Ivanhoe Tennis Club continue to underpin the area's long-established lifestyle appeal.

The suburb's education offering further strengthens demand. Ivanhoe Grammar School, Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, Mary Immaculate Primary School and Ivanhoe Primary School have helped establish the area as one of Melbou​​rne's most sought-after schooling precincts, attracting families and downsizers alike who want to remain connected to the area.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=342 project_image_fid=357510]

While location was the priority for Marita and Chris, the project itself also needed to meet their expectations.

"Whilst location was paramount, I was also looking at design of the environment and Candela ticked every box," Marita said.

"We're just thrilled with our choice."

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Developed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/salter-brothers">Salter Brothers</a>, Candela Ivanhoe has been designed to complement its village setting, with an emphasis on generous floorplans, natural light and practical everyday living.

Residents will have access to a range of shared amenities, including a communal rooftop garden and dedicated residential lounge, complemented by a ground-floor café and lifestyle wellbeing centre, helping foster the sense of community already emerging among future owners.

That approach has resonated strongly with the market. More than 90 per cent of purchasers at Candela Ivanhoe are owner-occupiers, with buyers ranging from downsizers and second-home buyers to young families and first home buyers, creating a genuinely multi-generational community of grandparents, parents and children. It reflects a broader shift across Melbo​​urne's apartment market, where buyers are increasingly prioritising neighbourhood quality, lifestyle amenity and long-term liveability.

Currently under construction by Ironside, Candela Ivanhoe comprises 58 apartments. Candela Ivanhoe is scheduled for completion in the coming months, and residents can move in from September. One to four bedroom residences, prices from $649,000 and limited opportunities remaining.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=342]

Location and lifestyle drive demand at Candela Ivanhoe

As apartment buyers increasingly look beyond the four walls of their residence, the quality and depth of shared amenity has become a defining factor in how developments are designed and experienced, particularly in the high-rise, new apartment development space.

In Southbank, where high-density living continues to evolve, developers are placing greater emphasis on creating environments that support wellbeing, connection, and convenience as part of everyday life.

That approach sits at the heart of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/aura-at-melbourne-square-7-hoff-boulevard-southbank-vic-3006">AURA</a>, the latest residential tower in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/osk-property">OSK Property</a>’s $3.5 billion Melbourne Square precinct. Rising 67 storeys above Hoff Boulevard, the 673-apartment development has been conceived around what OSK describes as a “vertical wellness ecosystem”, a layered collection of amenities that extends throughout the building rather than being confined to a single podium level.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151921 project_image_fid=370263]

The amenity offering begins on the seventh level within the AURA Club, a dedicated resident hub focused on health, relaxation, and daily convenience. Here, residents will have access to an indoor swimming pool, cold plunge, spa, sauna, and steam room, alongside a fully equipped gym, reformer Pilates studio, and yoga room.

The wellness facilities are complemented by a range of spaces that acknowledge the changing ways people live and work. Work-from-home lounges and co-working areas sit alongside a library, music room, games room, cinema facilities, and open-air terrace spaces, providing residents with flexible environments that can adapt throughout the day.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151921 project_image_fid=367468]

Beyond the internal amenity, AURA introduces a series of Japanese-inspired gardens that form a quieter counterpoint to the tower’s social spaces.

Landscaped retreats feature curated outdoor dining, tranquil courtyard seating, fire pit, and a tea house pavilion. Rather than functioning as simple recreational areas, the gardens have been designed as places for reflection and informal gathering, drawing on principles of balance, nature, and calm that underpin the project's broader design philosophy.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151921 project_image_fid=367810]

The social amenity continues to evolve as residents move higher through the building. Levels 49 and 50 house the Meridian Club, where a lounge bar, conservatory spaces, and private dining rooms take advantage of elevated city views. At the summit of the tower, the exclusive Cumulus Club spans Levels 66 and 67, offering additional lounges, private dining, and meditation and treatment rooms positioned above Melbourne’s skyline.

For OSK Property, the extensive amenity offering reflects a broader focus on wellbeing as a core component of apartment living rather than an added feature.

“Aura stands tall as an exemplar of holistic wellness – its focus on social, physical and mental health culminate in a building that is calming, restorative and relaxing, where residents will have their own sanctuary within the well-connected and sought-after Southbank,” says OSK Property CEO Chong Boon Woon.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151921 project_image_fid=367796]

AURA’s amenity strategy extends beyond the tower itself through its integration with the wider Melbourne Square precinct.

Residents will have direct access to Kennedy Park, Southbank’s 3,745 sqm landscaped public park, alongside a full-line Woolworths supermarket, childcare centre, hospitality venues, and approximately 1,600 sqm of additional retail planned within AURA’s lower levels. Together, these elements create a highly connected residential environment where daily needs, recreation, and wellness are woven into the fabric of the community.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151921 project_image_fid=370253]

As Melbourne’s apartment market continues to mature, developments are increasingly judged by the lifestyle they provide beyond individual residences.

Through its combination of wellness facilities, landscaped retreats, social clubs, and precinct-wide amenity, AURA represents a shift toward a more comprehensive model of vertical living, one where shared spaces play as significant a role as the homes themselves.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=151921]

AURA elevates amenity living at Melbourne Square

Builder-developer Scion is the latest to target Sydney's booming Hills Showground Metro precinct, filing plans for more than 100 apartments within walking distance of the station.

Scion has lodged a concurrent rezoning and State Significant Development Application for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/27-33-middleton-avenue-castle-hill-nsw-2154">27–33 Middleton Avenue</a>, where it plans to replace four existing homes with an 11 and 14-storey mixed-use development comprising 109 apartments, six affordable housing dwellings, and a ground-floor café.

Designed by BHK Architects, the proposal includes three levels of basement parking with 174 spaces, more than 1,200 sqm of communal open space, and extensive landscaping across the 3,791 sqm site.

The development has been designed as two buildings connected by a recessed wintergarden spine, with the 14-storey building positioned to the south and the 11-storey building to the north.

<img alt="Scion" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="64dc359d-736b-43b8-87a8-70a8285cab47" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-06-25%20at%208.47.01%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=PXh.m8id_aevBPHEckPf88wQ2RQThPos" />

The apartment mix has been weighted towards owner-occupiers, with 13 one-bedroom apartments, 55 two-bedroom residences, 31 three-bedroom apartments, six three-bedroom lofts, and four four-bedroom homes. Six apartments will be dedicated as affordable housing in line with the NSW Housing SEPP.

According to the Architectural Design Report by BKH, the proposal seeks to create "a place-responsive architecture" inspired by the natural landscape surrounding Cattai Creek, while strengthening the public domain through landscaping, active frontages and a neighbourhood café.

Atlas Urban, in its Urban Design Report, says the proposal takes a different approach to increasing density around Hills Showground Station by favouring a more slender, vertically articulated built form over a conventional mid-rise outcome. The report argues this allows for greater deep soil planting, improved solar access and a better public domain outcome, while still delivering additional housing close to rapid public transport.

The site sits around 500 metres from Hills Showground Metro Station, within a precinct earmarked for significant residential intensification following the opening of the Sydney Metro Northwest line. Planning documents accompanying the application note that Greater Sydney's population has grown by more than one million people since planning for the precinct first began, reinforcing the need to accelerate housing delivery around existing transport infrastructure.

Scion is expanding its development pipeline which also includes <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/chatham-west-ryde-2-6-chatham-road-west-ryde-nsw-2114">Chatham in West Ryde</a>, 62 apartments which are approaching completion. They also have a State Significant Development Application with the NSW Government's Housing Delivery Authority for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/96-anzac-avenue-west-ryde-nsw-2114">145 apartments on Anzac Avenue</a>, also in West Ryde.

First look: Scion plots Castle Hill apartment development near Hills Showground Metro Station

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a>&nbsp;has unveiled its scaled-back plans for a pair of towers rising up to 49 storeys directly opposite Bella Vista Metro Station.

The builder-developer will deliver 674 apartments and a new mixed-use hub at the gateway to the station precinct.

The State Significant Development Application has been lodged under the Housing Delivery Authority pathway for the 6,979 sqm site at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/9-11-mawson-avenue-bella-vista-nsw-2153">9-11 Mawson Avenue</a>, with the apartments sitting above a mixed-use podium. Initial plans were for closer to 900 apartments across two 40-storey towers.

Located around 30 metres from the Bella Vista Metro Station entrance, the development is intended to act as a catalyst for the long-planned Bella Vista Station Precinct, transforming a vacant site into a transit-oriented residential and commercial destination.

Planning documents describe the project as delivering "a high-density mixed use destination that combines housing, retail and community-serving uses in a highly accessible setting."

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group plans 674-apartment Bella Vista towers opposite Metro station" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="21c08216-589e-490d-ad08-2d88b6fa62d9" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/bella%20vista%20podium.png?VersionId=3TnwjjQCNwTsmyQRaWnFrLTSAF0CJeka" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/turner-studio">Turner</a>, with landscape architecture by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/landscape-architect/arcadia-landscape-architecture">Arcadia</a>, the project comprises 674 apartments, including 102 affordable housing dwellings representing 15 per cent of the residential floor space. The housing mix spans studios, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, alongside a collection of townhouse-style residences integrated into the podium levels. The development also includes specialist disability accommodation and an elevated provision of adaptable and liveable housing.

The mixed-use podium has been designed to create an active urban centre around the Metro station, incorporating a 1,423 sqm supermarket, a 3,029 sqm gym, specialty retail spaces, a 100-place childcare centre and a publicly accessible "city room" community space. A secondary laneway, active frontages and landscaped public areas are intended to improve pedestrian connectivity through the site and strengthen links between the station precinct and surrounding neighbourhood.

In the project's design report, Turner said the proposal responds to Bella Vista's emerging role as a higher-density centre within Sydney's north-west growth corridor.

"The project transforms a strategically located site into a high-density mixed use destination that combines housing, retail and community-serving uses in a highly accessible setting," the report states.

"Active frontages, a publicly accessible city room, a secondary laneway and a mix of uses including a local supermarket, child care centre and gym create a more complete and socially useful urban environment for residents, workers and the wider community."

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group plans 674-apartment Bella Vista towers opposite Metro station" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0fde6220-82de-4f6a-9b63-d0fd8157acc9" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/bella%20vista%20da.png?VersionId=7hEmuSutH8plTd_RqqdmPu055F6qe554" />

Urban Property Group has been one of the busiest developers across Greater Sydney this year.

The developer is progressing around 1,000 apartments across <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-urban-property-group-plans-next-major-wollongong-tower">two projects in Wollongong</a>, with several thousand more homes in the pipeline across Newcastle, Castle Hill, Little Bay and Penrith.

Jonathan Chancellor

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