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GUEST OBSERVATION
The federal government’s proposal to charge foreign investors a minimum of $5,000 on residential property investment applications has been couched in terms of <a href="https://jbh.ministers.treasury.gov.au/transcript/033-2015/" target="_blank">ensuring the integrity Australia’s foreign investment regime</a>.
The fees, announced by treasurer Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott while touring a house for sale in Sydney this week, add to the already-revealed <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2015-02-11/government-tightens-rules-foreign-purchases-agricultural-land" target="_blank">changes around agriculture land ownership</a> that have included reducing the purchase threshold for Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) oversight from $252 million to $15 million, and an ATO “stocktake” of foreign-owned agricultural land.
The Treasury has released an <a href="https://www.treasury.gov.au/~/media/Treasury/Consultations%20and%20Reviews/Consultations/2015/Strengthening%20Australias%20foreign%20investment%20framework/Key%20Documents/PDF/Strengthening%20Australias%20foreign%20investment%20framework.ashx" target="_blank">options paper</a> seeking consultation on the proposed changes to residential property investments by 20 March 2015. This is a short timeline for such consultation.
Introduction of fees
Introducing fees for the first time for foreign investment applications to the FIRB is intended to support administration on a user-pays basis. For residential property and agricultural land, the fee would be up to $5000 for each application and increase to $10,000 for every additional $1 million.
For other business, including agribusiness, the initial fee would be $25,000, and $100,000 would be charged where “the value of the target’s assets are greater than one billion dollars”. This includes “sensitive sectors” such as the media, telecommunications, transport, defence and those related to it, as well as “uranium, plutonium or the operation of nuclear facilities”.
No evaluation appears to have taken place in order to establish whether the introduction of fees would act as a deterrent to application, or change the pattern of investment across sectors. In these terms, it is not clear what the intentions of the government are, given that the criteria for evaluation remain open as they are currently.
For applications of large value, the fees proposed remain small. Nonetheless it incurs costs to foreign investors which domestic investors do not bear and it’s hard not to read a subtext of xenophobia, particularly around the level of Chinese investment, a fear which is not largely borne out <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-be-misled-on-chinese-foreign-investment-read-the-facts-25316" target="_blank">by the evidence</a>.
The fee is higher than that recommended by last year’s Federal Parliamentary Committee into affordable housing and foreign investment, which suggested a “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/02%20Parliamentary%20Business/24%20Committees/243%20Reps%20Committees/Economics/44p/Real%20Estate/Report/Report%20Final.pdf" target="_blank">modest administration fee</a>” of up to $1500, which it said would generate revenue of $158.7 million over four years.
I conservatively estimate the revenue obtained from charging the residential fee - based on <a href="https://www.firb.gov.au/content/Publications/AnnualReports/2012-2013/index.asp" target="_blank">approval numbers</a>, and making the (possibly highly optimistic) assumption that applications would continue to increase above the nearly 13,000 in 2012-13 - would be more than $63 million per year. It is not clear how the expected revenue from the new fees <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-25/foreign-real-estate-buyers-to-pay-fees-up-to-10000-dollars/6260748" target="_blank">as given by the government</a> of $200 million a year was arrived at.
Still, the government expects to use this to cover the costs of the ATO unit. This is still not large compared with the total value of $135.7 billion for foreign investment approvals in 2012-13.
Extending the role of the ATO
The government has announced a specialist unit within the Australian Taxation Office to support compliance with and enforcement of the foreign investment rules. The government proposes this on the basis that the ATO has the skills, data-matching systems and court experience. Presumably it has consulted the ATO in order to ascertain how well the ATO aligns with this, given that its functions are entirely oriented toward tax collection.
Involving the ATO in this way might call for legislation that determines the functions of the ATO to be amended, as well as changes to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act, which regulates FIRB.
On the user-pays basis claimed, $200 million suggests a fairly decent-sized unit at the ATO. The costs for the FIRB and its Division of the Treasury are a mere $4.5 million for 2012-13. <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/accc-aer-annual-report/accc-aer-annual-report-2013-14/accc-and-aer-annual-report-2013-14/part-1-year-in-review/finance-and-staffing-snapshot" target="_blank">By comparison</a> the entire ACCC cost $182 million in 2013-14. (The <a href="https://annualreport.ato.gov.au/05-financial-performance/financial-statements/cash-flow-statement" target="_blank">ATO cost a whopping $3.8 billion</a> in 2013-14, although consider the Commonwealth tax take of<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/5506.0Main%20Features22012-13?opendocument&amp;tabname=Summary&amp;prodno=5506.0&amp;issue=2012-13&amp;num=&amp;view=" target="_blank"> $338 billion in 2012-13</a>.)
Lack of hard data around rorts
New penalties are proposed for non-compliance with the foreign investment requirements. On its own admission, there is “limited evidence to suggest non-compliance” so it is not clear what the impact would be. The government clearly believes that improved monitoring might unearth it.
Hockey told the <a href="https://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2015/02/bst_20150226_0735.mp3" target="_blank">ABC’s Radio National</a>: "There is some evidence that foreigners have been buying existing residential real estate in Australia. That is unlawful and we have at the moment not got the resources at the moment to properly track that, we have no register of foreign ownership of residential land in Australia."
I have written before about <a href="https://theconversation.com/little-hard-data-in-the-hard-area-of-foreign-investment-28893" target="_blank">the lack of hard data</a> in foreign property ownership. The main questions are whether a register means better information will be collected and how the information might be used.
The only measure which looks useful is the proposed improvements to obtaining and keeping an inventory of foreign investment in property by liaising with state titles' offices and other sources of data. This might have been useful as an exercise prior to any other proposals, in order to gain an idea of the scale, value and purpose of land purchase. Again, this would only be meaningful if the equivalent exercise is done in order to compare with domestic purchase.
For instance in existing estimates, foreign purchases of agricultural land remain small. This sort of investment inventory would clarify exactly the differences in treatment of foreign and domestic purchases, and how these align with policy objectives. Availability of such information about land and other resource use would also allow other objectives, for instance in regional, industry, and environmental policies, to be strengthened.
In the end, we need to be able to analyse whether these changes will help us identify the number of foreign investors breaking the rules.
FIRB is already able to prevent any foreign investment above the low existing thresholds on the grounds of (unspecified) public interest. Yet very few proposals are knocked back. It is hard to see how this might change.
None of the measures suggested are backed up by clear evidence as to where they fix existing inadequacies or just what those are. The public interest criteria are not tightened.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/38031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Margaret McKenzie is lecturer, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at Deakin University.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>.
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MMcKenzie-5kQhUd2GMj

Foreign investment changes should expose the rorters: Margaret McKenzie

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GUEST OBSERVATION
A large portion of commentary on foreign investment in Australia is based on scant data, as recent submissions to the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=economics/foreigninvestment/index.htm">inquiry</a> into foreign investment in residential property show.
At the moment it seems the only body collecting any data on this sensitive issue is the Foreign Investment Review Board, and that appears limited. Even the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Reserve Bank <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abs-has-patchy-figures-on-foreign-investment-in-homes-20140625-3atp4">admitted</a> to the O'Dwyer inquiry its staff rely on trade magazines and newspapers to identify foreign real estate purchases.
The concept of foreign investment
In economics investment means the flow of additions (positive or negative) to a stock of assets, or store of value, over time in the economy. Investment is important because it contributes to the productive capacity of the economy. Residential property investment increases the flow of services from housing.
The term foreign investment is very often loosely used. It includes additions to assets by foreigners, such as internally financed additions or improvement to the assets, or externally through the purchase of new equity. But it also may include transfer of ownership of existing assets from local to foreign, such as through purchase of existing equity. By itself this would leave the stock of assets unchanged.
Prices in transactions are subject to supply and demand. They can vary from increases or improvements to production, through to speculation as in the lead up to the global financial crisis. This is another reason why the measurement of foreign investment may not be able to easily distinguish between additions to assets and the exchange of existing assets. Moreover the foreign exchange transactions which may be used to identify foreign investment do not record the reasons for the transaction.
Many foreign investment transactions involve selling and buying by entities which are themselves a mixture of domestic and foreign ownership. The IMF has rules about the how to categorise the various levels of foreign ownership involved in the transactions. “Direct investment” is that where a resident in one economy has control or a significant degree of influence directly or indirectly in the management of an enterprise resident in another economy. A rule of thumb is more than 10% of the worth of the entity is involved in the transaction.
Data collection needs resources
As in the case of any data, the quality of foreign investment data is only as good as the amount of resources devoted to the collection, and that has been determined historically. There are primarily two sources of data for foreign investment in Australia, the FIRB and the ABS.
The state titles and transfers offices do not record the nationality of parties in property transfers. The addition to cost for improving data collection needs to be weighed up against the benefits of the additional information gained from that data. For national data, this is invariably a political question, not only in determining the total funding or addition for data collection, but also within that the allocation to each area, as indicated in the ABS submission.
The Treasury budget <a href="https://www.treasury.gov.au/~/media/Treasury/Publications%20and%20Media/Publications/2013/PBS%202013-14/Downloads/PDF/02_ABS.ashx">documentation</a> provides no plan to increase ABS resources, nor is the purpose of expenditure identified (except for the Census).
This article continues on the next page. Please click below.
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
Property as a special category of foreign investment
The difficulties of recording foreign investment data are widespread - Australia is one of the few countries that produce data of any sort on foreign ownership of land.
In the case of real estate, the stock of assets includes land (and improvements), buildings and other constructed physical structures. A problem for measurement of property as foreign or domestically owned arises because the land itself has to stay on Australia’s national balance sheet as an asset even though it may have a foreign owner. This involves separate valuation of the land. Otherwise the land would appear in the balance sheets as an asset of another country.
The ABS data on real estate cannot be split between foreign and local ownership, nor between commercial and residential. The ABS includes foreign investment in property in purchases of Australian equity in “other business services” which includes legal, accounting, marketing, computing and scientific services, amounting to about A$33 billion in 2013. The data is obtained by survey of the businesses involved.
FIRB data is collected for a different purpose
The ABS also makes use of data from the FIRB on investment intentions by foreign investors outside the Australian corporate structure, estimated at a value of A$24 billion for 2013. The FIRB data are based on applications it receives. It would only include the value of foreign investments where the amounts are greater than the threshold requirement for applications, currently A$248 million for business investment from most other countries. Lower or zero thresholds apply for real estate or for government investors. It is not clear how repeat and unsuccessful applications are accounted for.
Emigrating Australians increase foreign investment assets - by another A$48 billion. Overall foreign holdings of Australian real estate appear to add about 3% to total foreign investment. The RBA estimates that foreign investment is at most 5-10% of dwelling turnover value and half that in volume because the investment is in higher value houses. This leaves the likely proportion of total housing stock which is foreign owned unknown but likely to be very small.
What is needed?
The ABS recommends that if comprehensive data on foreign investment in real estate is a priority, the FIRB and the state offices for transfers and titles could be required to collect the data. The data required, according to the ABS, would include:
<ul>
<li>the market value of property transacted</li>
<li>settlement date</li>
<li>residency of investor</li>
<li>Australian residency status of purchaser</li>
<li>seller residency, and</li>
<li>whether purchaser is a corporation or individual.</li>
</ul>
Whether the foreign investor is a government could be added to the list. While the ABS proposal would need to be costed and the political will to be implemented, it appears to be a sensible suggestion to improve the data in this area.
Margaret McKenzie is lecturer, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/" target="_blank">Deakin University</a><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university"></a>.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Little hard data in the hard area of foreign investment

Fresh off completing its Delano Crows Nest development, Lindsay Bennelong has lodged plans for its next project, this time turning its attention to the beach.

The developer, founded by Clarendon Homes founder Peter Campbell, is proposing a 37-apartment scheme at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/17-25-ashburner-street-manly-nsw-2095">17-25 Ashburner Street</a>, Manly, positioned between the southern end of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/manly-nsw-2095">Manly</a> Beach and East Manly Cove.

Lindsay Bennelong called on local architecture firm Platform Architects to design the new building, given their success on The Finn, Lindsay Bennelong's current luxury apartment project on North Steyne.&nbsp;

According to the Design Verification Statement by Bridie Gough of Platform Architects, the proposal “relates to the current context but also the desired future character of taller buildings suitable to the new planning controls.”

The site has been identified as a Low to Mid-Rise Housing (LMR) location, given its position within 400 metres of the Manly Town Centre E1 Business Zone. The LMR controls are intended to unlock additional housing supply in well-located areas close to public transport, allowing developers to seek increased height limits to support greater density.

“The proposal seeks to provide this increased level of housing whilst being respectful of some of the smaller scale buildings also nearby,” the statement reads.

Lindsay Bennelong Development Director Leigh Manser said the project has been carefully aligned with the intent of the LMR controls. The proposal will significantly increase housing yield on the site, replacing four houses and 10 apartments, comprising 25 bedrooms, with 37 new apartments delivering a total of 94 bedrooms.

“Sydney is in a severe undersupply, and delivering more dwellings and more bedrooms than what currently exists is exactly what the LMR policy is designed to activate,” Manser said, noting that nine of the apartments will be allocated as affordable housing for frontline workers.

“We have already commenced discussions with our community housing provider to determine the rental levels that frontline workers can realistically afford in this location,” he said. “These will need to sit well below the standard affordable housing benchmark of 20 per cent below market rent, and that has been factored into our feasibility and pricing.”

<img alt="Manly" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ad03000f-19f9-48b4-b27d-e85ca800a1da" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-04-30%20at%208.41.59%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=a.txHwCZgbCInlQ6QXbIrI.umvW1T.r8" />

The design of the building incorporates a wave-like indentation running through the façade, referencing the nearby coastline and anchoring the building within its local context.

The&nbsp;Design Verification Statement says careful consideration has been given to the articulation of the building, ensuring the bulk is broken down to a more human scale through a defined four-storey podium."

The scheme includes a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

“The design ensures a high level of amenity, with apartments offering generous private open space, many with expansive views, and all with comfortable proportions."

<img alt="Bennelong" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6a7f2812-72a1-4959-84b0-997e8cd88aed" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-04-30%20at%2010.15.50%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=6iMxU3MkXmHVHAoNhYBjnqgka8CUZNbk" />

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/lindsay-bennelong-developments">Lindsay Bennelong</a>&nbsp;is currently developing Finn Manly, just three full-floor luxury apartments on North Steyne. They recently welcomed residents to its 81-unit Delano Crows Nest development, a&nbsp;carefully scaled infill project designed to bridge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/crows-nest-nsw-2065">Crows Nest</a>’s lively village centre with its surrounding heritage streets.

Designed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ajc-architects">AJC Architects</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/delano-crows-nest-27-57-falcon-street-crows-nest-nsw-2065">Delano</a>&nbsp;is arranged across three low-rise buildings, incorporating a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments alongside a limited number of townhomes addressing Hayberry Lane. The architectural approach draws on the area’s Art Deco lineage, reinterpreted through contemporary detailing and framed by landscaped communal gardens.

The developer also has a development site in Maroubra.

Joel Robinson

First look: Lindsay Bennelong's new Manly apartment development revealed

Fifty-nine residences across 37 levels. No more than two per floor. With 80 per cent now sold, what remains at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/madeline-by-mosaic-broadbeach-22-mary-avenue-broadbeach-qld-4218">Madeline by Mosaic</a> is a short list.

Madeline was always conceived at a scale that sits outside the normal register of Gold Coast apartment living. The residences are half- and full-floor configurations, with the largest spanning more than 400 sqm, dimensions that place them closer to the penthouse end of the market regardless of where they sit in the building.

That scale is the organising principle of everything else: how the floorplans are laid out, how the materials read, how the connection between inside and outside works.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150135 project_image_fid=355941]

The interiors were developed in collaboration with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/fraser-partners-0">Fraser &amp; Partners</a>, the architecture practice&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mosaic-property-group">Mosaic</a> brought in as design partner for the first time on this project. The palette runs to natural stone, textured timbers, and soft metallics, materials chosen as much for their tactile quality as their appearance.

Light cleverly shifts across surfaces through the day, and the design is explicit about wanting that to be noticed. Full-height glazing runs across the primary living areas, and where the building faces east toward the ocean, those walls of glass are doing real work: framing a view corridor that the site's position directly opposite Broadbeach State School's playing fields keeps permanently open.

That outlook is the site's most consequential asset. In a suburb where new towers continue to rise, a protected view line is genuinely rare, and the Mary Avenue address secures it. Residents at Madeline will look out over open parkland rather than the rear of another building, a distinction that becomes more meaningful with each new development approved nearby.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150135 project_image_fid=355939]

The private outdoor spaces are sized to match the residences themselves. Terraces on the upper levels frame uninterrupted ocean panoramas, and the planning ensures that living areas extend into those outdoor zones rather than treating them as separate attachments. The flow between the two is part of the design intent, not an afterthought.

Inside, the finish specification reflects the same approach. Rich stone benchtops, warm timber joinery, bespoke hardware, each element specified to hold up over time rather than read as a moment in a particular trend cycle.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150135 project_image_fid=3409]

Beyond the residences, the amenity offering extends that register. A lap pool and sun deck anchor the outdoor space, alongside a magnesium pool, cold plunge, steam room, and sauna.

A commercial-grade gymnasium, residents' lounge, library, and boardroom round out a programme that functions more like a private members club than a standard building amenity floor.

Construction has commenced under Mosaic's in-house building arm, with completion scheduled for late 2028.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=150135]

Madeline by Mosaic delivers penthouse-level living across every apartment

Developer Fortezza Group is the latest to take its new apartment development, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-belvedere-5-7-church-street-nelson-bay-nsw-2315">The Belvedere in Nelson Bay</a>, to the NSW Government.

Fortezza, predominantly a South East Queensland developer, is the latest to apply for State Significant Development&nbsp; status through the NSW Government's Housing Delivery Authority, a pathway becoming favoured by developers to speed up the approval process.

They are planning 57 two- and three-bedroom apartments across 5-7 Church Street and 42 Donald Street, near d'Albora Nelson Bay Marina. The diverse apartment mix has sizes from just over 80 sqm to the largest three-bedroom penthouses that reach nearly 200 sqm.

<img alt="Fortezza" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="090360e1-66d7-43ad-b686-aba81f173bf2" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-04-29%20at%2010.22.40%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=DMqF96eBZolqSAAAcugX0l66ueWng66m" />

Fortezza calls the project a "piece of Istria in Nelson Bay,"&nbsp;referring to the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, shared by Croatia (90%), Slovenia, and Italy, which is known for its Roman history, Venetian-style coastal towns and inland hilltop villages.

They say the The Belvedere is strategically positioned at the apex of Nelson Bay, offering unrivalled views of the ocean, the bay and captivating topography of the area.

"Our commitment to maintaining the integrity of every view and sight line has been relentless," Fortezza Group says.

"Through extensive modelling and analysis, we ensure that each apartment enjoys the natural beauty of Nelson Bay, regardless of future developments. Each design element is carefully curated to harmonise with our European heritage, drawing profound inspiration from the Roman architectural marvels in Istria. The arches, the cascades of greenery and the stonework that define our project pay homage to the structures that once exemplified Roman grandeur."

Residents will have access to a pool, communal green spaces, an office and a coffee shop.

First look: Fortezza Group takes The Belvedere, Nelson Bay apartment development, to NSW Government

SEQ developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/keylin-group">Keylin</a>&nbsp;is the latest to jump into the hot Kangaroo Point market, filing plans for a prime site on Lambert Street.

The 52-unit development, predominantly made up of two-bed apartments, will sit on a 1,012 sqm site at 39 Lambert Street, within the&nbsp;Kangaroo Point Peninsula’s Shafston Precinct.

The 15-storey scheme by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/jackson-teece">Jackson Teece</a>&nbsp;is anchored by a strong focus on mid-sized apartments, with 48 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom dwellings forming the mix. The project includes three basement levels, as well as ground and mezzanine parking, delivering a total of 66 car spaces.

<img alt="First Look: Keylin targets Brisbane’s mid-market with 15-storey Kangaroo Point proposal" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0df78d49-0723-442f-917e-fe29f4eb02c6" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/2_1.png?VersionId=Ud0OP4FZCGFHLvwFWbaeTcYq8Fc2mtdh" />

Planning documents describe the proposal as “a high-density residential outcome that integrates with its context and encourages urban consolidation and the efficient use of land in a well-serviced, inner-city location.”

The building adopts a slender tower form across 15 levels, including a rooftop communal terrace. Its design is shaped by setbacks and orientation that respond directly to neighbouring buildings, achieving up to 20 metres of separation to the adjacent Point Hotel and between 9 and 17 metres to nearby residential developments.

A key design driver is the integration of subtropical and biophilic elements. The architectural concept, described as an “elevated garden sanctuary,” draws from the natural character of the Kangaroo Point cliffs, incorporating landscaped ledges, deep planting zones, and extensive greenery throughout the façade. Curved balconies and layered planting soften the tower’s vertical form, while the lower levels feature heavier landscaping and screening to create a more human-scaled street interface.

<img alt="First Look: Keylin targets Brisbane’s mid-market with 15-storey Kangaroo Point proposal" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="95bc4974-fcbd-4a9a-9dfb-95b8e1977187" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/4.png?VersionId=o8hwItpcfKBglOaTH8Hv7MmVOphZF_Fg" />

Residents will have access to a rooftop amenity offering spanning approximately 262 sqm, including a pool and spa, gym, lounge areas, and flexible wellness spaces. Landscaping is embedded throughout the building, with over 280 sqm of planted areas integrated across the façade and rooftop.

Kangaroo Point has been popular for developers in recent years. Mosaic Property Group has almost sold out its two Kangaroo Point buildings,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-bedford-by-mosaic-16-30-prospect-street-kangaroo-point-qld-4169">The Bedford by Mosaic</a> on Prospect Street, and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-carter-by-mosaic-77-linton-street-kangaroo-point-qld-4169">The Carter Building on Linton Street</a>.

Kenlynn has <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/130lambert-112-130-lambert-street-kangaroo-point-qld-4169">130Lambert</a>, just up the road from Keylin's proposal, while Pikos has two projects in the area.

Keylin targets Brisbane’s mid-market with 15-storey Kangaroo Point apartment development

"A legacy to last 100 years."

That's the view of Brisbane developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/consolidated-properties">Consolidated Properties Group</a> (CPG), which has just been given the green light to develop its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/47-skyring-terrace-newstead-qld-4006">Skyring Terrace, Newstead tower</a> on what is being pitched as "the last true riverfront address at Newstead."

CPG will now begin a VIP release, with buyer enquiries open ahead of priority outreach to registered clients in May.&nbsp;

Access to the as yet unnamed project will be limited, with CPG confirming a staged release strategy targeting a select group of buyers before any broader market launch.&nbsp;

<img alt="DA approved for last true riverfront address in Newstead" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f4ab3090-a2b8-46a8-a4f3-4ec16b5b25b9" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Enscape_2025-09-18-13-10-37.jpg?VersionId=_9OV7Adc_zdCldf58WkP0iiagz3Ed3yd" />

Construction is scheduled to commence in August 2026, with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/hutchinson-builders">Hutchinson Builders</a> expected to be on site in the coming weeks preparing the sales office.&nbsp;

The approved development comprises 227 apartments across a 25-storey tower with more than 75% having northeast river views. There is also an absolute riverfront six-storey boutique building of only 12 residences which will each enjoy more than 21 metres of river frontage.&nbsp;

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/woods-bagot">Woods Bagot</a>, the project adopts a contemporary interpretation of Brisbane’s classical architecture, with a focus on enduring materials including brick and stone.&nbsp;

<img alt="DA approved for last true riverfront address in Newstead" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bfe7254d-25c3-44bb-9a46-ed658d0aab8a" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Enscape_2025-11-05-00-57-36.jpg?VersionId=O29la.BVNnSLxL0JVzvEETE8NaYIn3XG" />

CPG Chairman and CEO Don O’Rorke says the approval marks a significant milestone for the group’s $1.5 billion plus riverfront development pipeline including Gloriette at Yeerongpilly.&nbsp;

“This will be a new signature building for the Brisbane skyline and riverfront,” O’Rorke said. “We want this building to be considered one of Brisbane’s best in 100 years.”&nbsp;

CPG Head of Residential James MacGinley says the design prioritises longevity and permanence over short-term trends.&nbsp;

“Woods Bagot’s design will stand the test of time,” MacGinley said.&nbsp;

“First and foremost, these are beautiful homes designed to enjoy river views that will never be built out. However, the heart of this design goes beyond the ‘now’ and draws from the past to create an enduring legacy for the future. We expect these homes to become very tightly held and passed from generation to generation.&nbsp;

The project will form part of CPG’s broader riverfront portfolio, with a fully fitted out sales office opening later this year.

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Margaret McKenzie

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