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Population growth is slowing as overseas migration winds down, according to new figures released by CoreLogic RP Data.
The August 2015 Housing Market and Economic Update noted a 1.4% annual change in population.
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mick.cee-iDmgDDAmu8

Population growth slowing, overseas migration winds down: CoreLogic RP Data

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Brisbane’s western fringe strata office and retail market is strong in suburbs such as Milton and Toowong with some capital values found smilier to those in CBD investments.
Ray White Commercial head of research Vanessa Rader said premium assets in terms of location, size and access demand rents up in the $800 per sqm to $1,050 per sqm gross face range, with some achieving capital values in the region of $17,000 per sqm.
“Prime retail assets are more reasonably priced in the $8,000 per sqm to $12,000 per sqm range and are also strongly food or convenience driven tenancies in locations such as Sherwood Rd, Toowong,” she said.
"While some areas in the western fringe have a high vacancy rate, it’s a different story for a number of quality assets in Milton."
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Brisbane fringe office markets strong

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A record 1,120 auctions are slated for Melbourne this weekend, breaking the previous record of 1,030 auctions set in the second week in August.
Some 810 auctions were held on the same weekend last year. 
Real Estate Institute of Victoria CEO Enzo Raimondo said clearance rates in suburbs such as Bayswater, Dingley Village and Wantirna, have been recorded well above 90%. 
“But strong clearance rates and high auction numbers in Melbourne’s middle and outer suburbs show that buyers are increasingly seeking value, and space, in the more affordable areas," he said.
“The heightened demand for homes in these locations is driving a push towards more auctions, with vendors benefiting from strong competition on auction day.”
 
Melbourne’s top auction suburbs in the year-to-date:
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<td valign="middle">
Suburb
</td>
<td valign="middle">
Total Auctions
</td>
<td valign="middle">
Sold at Auction
</td>
<td valign="middle">
Clearance Rates
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RESERVOIR
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<td valign="middle">
     387
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     277
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     72%
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GLEN WAVERLEY
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     306
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     244
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     80%
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RICHMOND
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     298
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<td valign="middle">
     241
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<td valign="middle">
     81%
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ST KILDA
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     285
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     211
</td>
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     74%
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MOUNT WAVERLEY
</td>
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     279
</td>
<td valign="middle">
     240
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     86%
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Suburbs with the highest clearance rates in the year-to-date:
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Suburb
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Total Auctions 
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BAYSWATER
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      51
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     49
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     96%
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DINGLEY VILLAGE
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      64
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     61
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     95%
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WANTIRNA
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     100
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     95
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     95%
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HEATHMONT
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      59
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     56
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     95%
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VERMONT SOUTH
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      84
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     79
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     94%
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Melbourne sets new auction record for August 

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The Property Council of Australia is driving the development of retirement villages due to the level of Australians aged over 65 expecting to double in the next ten years.
A new report released by the Property Council in conjunction with research firm RPS, titled The Five A's of Retirement Living, recommends a suite of actions to promote retirement villages investment that includes setting retirement living housing targets, fast-tracked approvals and making retirement living a permissible development in all residential zones.
Mary Wood, executive director of Retirement Living said by 2025, the demand for retirement living accommodation for people aged over 65 years is expected to double. But at the current rate of development, there simply will not be enough supply of retirement communities to meet demand.
“The rapid increase in the number of older Australians needs to be matched by an increased determination by politicians and town planners to support the development of more seniors housing,” she said.
“Purpose-built homes in retirement communities that are well located and expressly designed to support older Australians to be happy, independent and socially engaged is an important goal – but not one that our planning systems are well placed to achieve."
The report contains a suite of recommendations for state and local governments, including:
<ul>
<li>Policies that incentivise the integration of villages with the general community; </li>
<li>Development yield improvements including car parking flexibility, landscape area reductions and lower open space infrastructure charges; and</li>
<li>Rate rebates for retirement village dwellings. </li>
</ul>
 
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Seniors housing crisis threat looming: Property Council of Australia

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Developer Golden Age Group has purchased two neighbouring sites in Sydney’s Double Bay for $18 million.
The properties, 315-317 and 321 New South Head Road has a total of 2004.5sqm, with development plans for boutique residences.
Golden Age Group managing director Jeff Xu said the group will continue to develop premium properties in Melbourne.
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Golden Age Group grabs neighbouring Double Bay sites

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Research from Queensland University of Technology has discovered a little-known infrastructure tax that, when the cost is passed on by developers, can potentially add more than $130,00 to the price of a new home.
QUT property economics lecturer Dr Lyndall Bryant said house prices in Brisbane increased an average of $3.95 for every $1 of infrastructure charges levied to property developers.
He said in fast-growing areas governments don't have the funds to build all the infrastructure new housing estates need and existing communities refuse to pay for it by way of higher rates and taxes. The infrastructure charges are levied at the time of developmental approval. 
"Property developers claim it is uneconomical for them to pay these charges and pass them on to homebuyers, making new houses unaffordable for many," he said.
"In Queensland the maximum infrastructure charge for a new three or more bedroom house was set at $28,000 in 2011. My research found that the 'over-passing' ratio for new house prices is 469%, and 356% for existing houses.
"Applying the 2011 maximum infrastructure charge, this suggests the price of a new house increases by as much as $131,320 and the price of an existing house by $99,680. This means that this one government charge could add nearly $1,000 a month to the average 30 year mortgage."
The study covered infrastructure charges on 27,752 house and 13,739 lot prices in Brisbane from 2005 - 2011.
"This study suggests the current policy of infrastructure charges is an inefficient tax that adversely affects housing affordability, with homeowners ultimately paying many times the actual cost of the urban infrastructure, with the banks being the winners, benefitting from the increases to mortgage payments," he said.
"The rate of over-passing of the charges, which were effectively a tax, was far higher in Australia than had been observed in the United States."
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Little-known infrastructure tax sending Brisbane property prices soaring

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Home values are still falling in Darwin, with the latest figures from CoreLogic RP Data showing the largest annual decline since early 2012. 
The median house price is $570,000 and the median price for units $441,500.
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Darwin home values continue to fall: CoreLogic RP Data

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Two Balmain terraces and a warehouse with double street frontage in Sydney's Balmain have sold at auction for a total of $4.13 million.
The lot comprised four separate titles over approximately 560 sqm and was offered for sale in one line or two and two.
Ray White Commercial Inner West principal Tim Morrison said the 77-79 Beattie Street property has two separate buildings, two street frontages and being zoned residential with commercial use rights, it offers a myriad of potential uses for development or conversion.
“This property was offered at auction as a vacant possession and attracted considerable interested from developers and occupiers during the marketing campaign,” he said.
 
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Balmain development possibility sells for $4.13 million

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Neil Perry’s Burger Project will open in Sydney's MLC Centre this December as part of the building's foodie redevelopment.
Eight new retailers have also signed on, including Bun Me, Schnitz, Top Juice, Sumo Salad’s Green Label and Famous Fish Co by Costi.  
GPT’s head of investment management for office, David Burgess, said he Burger Project will take a prime position, facing out towards Martin Place and expects it to be an lunchtime and evening drawcard. 
Neil Perry said he had been on the lookout for key sites around Australia to expand the Burger Project brand.   
 
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Neil Perry's Burger Project set for MLC Centre

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The top five worst residential real estate investment ideas include cruise ship suites, retirement villages, property in mining towns, lifestyle properties and overpriced off the plan apartment developments, according to SQM Research.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said the idea of investing on a cruise ship has the downside of not buying on any land at all and boats tend to depreciate rather quickly.
He says he has not seen a single retirement village investment make money for the retiree and likens investing in a retirement village to sucking the financial blood out of poor retirees in their last years of life.
"It is possible to earn a cash-flow from holiday makers (on a cruise ship) but from what I can see, that type of cash flow return needs to be in excess of 10% net just to take into account this real depreciation. And I am not aware of any cruise ship suite offering that type of net rental return," he said.
"The problem with retirement village investment starts with the fact that in most of these properties one is buying into a leasehold arrangement. That’s right, you don’t actually “own” the underlying land.  Often the manager behind these estates has complete control over costs and worse, resales. Often one has to resell back to the manager or at least sell via the manager for which they of course take a generous fee.
"Unless you have trucks of money to spend and just want to be around like minded seniors, do not invest in these 'properties'. You are far, far better off living it up in a hotel!"
Golf course estates, semi-rural lifestyle estates, holiday homes, he said, are aimed towards 'lifestyle,' rather than 'reliable real estate investment', with many overpriced with body corporate fees and other management services fees to match.
Mining town housing markets are the classic one trick pony town markets and completely reliant on one single economic base that may or may not provide stable returns.
Buying overpriced off the plan apartments with top of the line fixtures is problematic as you can pay a premium to enter the market. He said there is a good reason  why the ATO allows for a 2.5% depreciation benefit to these types of properties
"And that’s because they can depreciate," he said. 
Top five worst property investment ideas
1. Cruise ship suites
2. Retirement villages
3. Mining towns
4. Lifestyle properties
5. Overpriced off-the-plan apartment developments
 
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Top five worst property investment ideas: SQM Research

Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

Joel Robinson

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

WM Residences fills gap in Mordialloc townhouse market

&nbsp;

Developer GURNER™ Group has revealed $1.65 billion in residential sales nationally across the 12 months to December 2025, driven largely by the continued momentum of its Docklands wellness-focused precinct, Elysium Fields.

The sales result was generated across seven projects in Victoria and New South Wales, headlined by Elysium Fields, GURNER™’s $2.75 billion mixed-use precinct planned for Harbour Esplanade in Docklands.

The project has recorded more than $500 million in sales across the first three towers, equating to around 580 apartments sold.

The first tower, Helios, has now sold out of its 240 private residences, with GURNER™ preparing to release a premium penthouse collection comprising 15 three-bedroom penthouses in coming weeks.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370975]

Elysium Fields is being developed on the long-held 20,000 sqm Docklands site at 208-226 Harbour Esplanade, which had remained undeveloped for more than two decades prior to GURNER™ taking over the project around four years ago.

Construction has now commenced across four towers ranging between 18 and 30 storeys, with Hamilton Marino and Maxcon appointed as builders.

Once complete, the precinct is expected to comprise around 1,100 residences, alongside retail, hospitality and public realm uses integrated throughout the site.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370981]

Designed by Fraser &amp; Partners in collaboration with GURNER™ Design House, the project has been positioned around the developer’s broader focus on wellness-led residential living.

“We don’t sell apartments. We create a true luxury lifestyle that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere in the market today,” Founder and Executive Chairman Tim Gurner said.

“To deliver that requires an extraordinary level of detail, coordination and discipline across multiple verticals, from design and hospitality through to wellness and service.”

“We’ve always believed that living extends far beyond the physical residence. It’s about how you feel the moment you arrive, how you live day-to-day, and the ecosystem that supports that.” 
[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370977]

The project’s design places a heavy focus on landscaping, wellness amenities and biophilic design principles.

Plans include around 3,700 sqm of landscaped gardens and open space throughout the precinct, alongside a retail and dining offering spanning approximately 5,000 sqm.

The broader public realm strategy centres around what GURNER™ describes as the “Path of Life”, an urban forest and landscaped pedestrian environment intended to connect the various buildings and wellness spaces across the precinct.

The apartments themselves will incorporate a range of wellness-focused inclusions, including purified air and water systems, circadian lighting, antimicrobial surfaces, and optional in-home wellness upgrades.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370980]

Gurner said the company’s experience through its Saint Haven wellness clubs had directly informed the residential offering now being incorporated into Elysium Fields.

“We’re seeing a clear global shift toward longevity, performance and proactive health,” Gurner said.

“Our role is to deliver that in a way that feels seamless, highly private and beautifully resolved within the environments we create.”

A large component of the wellness offering is planned through the resident amenity and health facilities proposed within the precinct.

That includes plans for bathing and recovery facilities spread throughout the towers, incorporating mineral pools, saunas, steam rooms, flotation therapy, red light therapy and wellness lounges.

The developer is also seeking approvals for what it describes as a “reverse ageing medical clinic” within the precinct.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370978]

According to project information released by the group, the proposed facility would include cryotherapy, IV infusion therapy, infrared and dry saunas, PEMF beds, MRIs, DEXA scans, brain scans and blood analysis services.

Within the first tower, Helios, residents will also have access to a dedicated amenity offering known as the Sky Private Club.

The upper 15 levels of the building will include private lounges, dining spaces, rooftop amenities and optional private wellness studios integrated within residences.

The Helios tower itself comprises 260 apartments ranging between 60 sqm and 300 sqm, including a collection of penthouses.

That includes a planned two-storey penthouse spanning around 600 sqm with uninterrupted bay views.

The Elysium Fields precinct is being delivered in partnership with Digital Harbour Holdings, a consortium that includes the Liberman family, which controls the development rights across the Docklands site.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144441 project_image_fid=370979]

The sales result comes as GURNER™ continues expanding its national development pipeline beyond Victoria.

“We have a strong pipeline across Australia and are now focused on scaling into key markets including New South Wales and Queensland, while continuing to build on our Melbourne base,” Gurner said.

“We currently have more than $3 billion in the market, growing to over $5 billion by October, and expect to materially outperform last year in the 2026 calendar year.”

The result also reflects the continued strength of the upper-end apartment market in Melbourne, particularly for owner-occupier-focused product with large-scale amenity and lifestyle offerings.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=144441]

Record result anchored by the Group’s “utopian” Elysium Fields precinct – defying market headwinds in Docklands.

Elysium Fields drive Gurner to $1.65 billion in apartment sales over 2025

National Australia Bank (NAB) will fund <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/palmera-residences-gold-coast-18-garfield-terrace-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">Palmera</a>, a $1 billion, 52-level luxury residential tower being developed by Central Equity in one of the Gold Coast’s most tightly held coastal locations at Northcliffe.

The project, launched recently by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/central-equity">Central Equity</a>, one of Victoria’s largest private residential developers, comes at a time when construction funding for large residential developments has become increasingly competitive as lenders tighten exposure to the sector.

Multiplex has been appointed the builder, and construction is now underway.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365784]

Since its first project, Central Equity has delivered more than 85 residential developments with a combined end value exceeding $8 billion.

Palmera reflects Central Equity’s growing focus on the Gold Coast luxury apartment market and continues a relationship between Central Equity and NAB that dates back to the late 1980s, when the bank funded one of Melbourne’s earliest inner-city residential towers at a time when high-rise apartment living in the CBD was largely unproven.

“NAB’s funding of Central Equity’s $36 million CBD development in the late 1980’s to the financing of the billion-dollar tower today highlights the long-term relationship between the two organisations in delivering major residential projects” said Central Equity Founder and Chairman Eddie Kutner.

He said NAB’s early support was instrumental in helping establish the company’s development model.

“When we commenced our first residential tower in the late 1980s the concept of funding off-the-plan apartments was still largely untested in Australia,” Kutner said.

“NAB recognised the opportunity early and supported the project when others were uncertain. That relationship has now continued for more than 37 years across many developments.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365771]

Central Equity was established in 1987 when Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank precinct were still dominated by warehouses and commercial buildings. Fewer than 100 residents lived in Southbank at the time, and large-scale residential development in the inner city was not widely considered.

Recognising changing demographics and lifestyle preferences, the company began developing high-rise residential projects designed to bring permanent residents into the city centre.

Central Equity has provided accommodation for approximately 40,000 residents across Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank, while also incorporating supporting infrastructure including essential lifestyle facilities like retail spaces, childcare facilities and neighbourhood activity centres.

Central Equity has spent many years assembling the Palmera development site on the corner of Garfield Terrace and Frederick Street in Northcliffe, creating a supersite of around 3,300 sqm.

The developer said the Palmera apartment tower reflects its long-term view of the Gold Coast as a growing and increasingly diversified economy.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108274 project_image_fid=365768]

Supported by infrastructure including the light rail network, major road upgrades expanded education, hospital and medical facilities and continued expansion at the Gold Coast Airport with more international and domestic flights.

Positioned in the tightly held Northcliffe precinct, the 52-level tower will deliver 347 apartments, targeting buyers seeking a high-end coastal lifestyle, from downsizers to interstate investors.

Designed by Marchese Partners with interiors by DBI, Palmera has been conceived as a next-generation residential offering, featuring a collection of oversized apartments, with premium three-bedroom residences offering sweeping northern views stretching from Surfers Paradise through to Burleigh Heads.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=108274]

NAB funds $1 billion Surfers Paradise apartment development, Palmera

Two years after completing one of the newest developments in North Sydney, developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/aqualand-australia">Aqualand</a> is turning its attention to the rapidly evolving St Leonards apartment market.

The developer, which completed AURA by Aqualand on North Sydney's Walker Street, has lodged plans for a 5,918 sqm site at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/33-37-herbert-street-st-leonards-nsw-2065">33-37 Herbert Street, St Leonards,</a> seeking approval for a pair of residential towers rising above a shared podium opposite Royal North Shore Hospital.

The proposal forms part of the broader transformation underway across the St Leonards-Crows Nest precinct, where former industrial and commercial sites are increasingly being redeveloped into high-density mixed-use projects tied to major transport infrastructure.

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2cc428cf-fe70-4cac-9cd5-264ad53af62c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.56%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=otKSnHtbjAvAddOnovyXQMgcAwE6DMe1" />

According to the planning documents, the site sits “within the St Leonards–Crows Nest Strategic Centre, identified by the NSW Government as a key area for accommodating future jobs and housing across Sydney.”

The proposal has been designed by fjcstudio, formerly FJMT Studio, and is being progressed through the State Significant Development pathway due to its scale and affordable housing provision.

The scheme would comprise 413 apartments, including 46 affordable housing units, alongside retail and commercial uses fronting Herbert Street. The project would also include communal open space, landscaping, a swimming pool, gymnasium, children’s play areas and podium-level resident amenities.

Planning documents show the development would consist of a part-13, part-39 storey tower form positioned above a four-storey podium.

“The development comprises a unified podium that activates the street interface, and two setback towers to accommodate new housing supply while maintaining an appropriate human scale at ground level,” fjcstudio noted in its Design Report.

The northern and southern towers have been shaped to respond to the surrounding skyline while also limiting overshadowing impacts to nearby public open space, particularly Talus Reserve.

The design report said the differing tower heights were intended to “contribute to a varied skyline while responding to the surrounding built form context and solar access considerations.”

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="36da62dc-ff9e-41f2-a7e3-7be38373751c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.45%E2%80%AFAM_0.png?VersionId=Mo6Rp2r.XRLTzIfg_PEEpw8NepDH8UBs" />

The site sits directly opposite Royal North Shore Hospital and within walking distance of both St Leonards Station and the new Crows Nest Metro station.

While the site itself sits just outside the formal Crows Nest Transport Oriented Development boundary, the planning documents repeatedly reference its alignment with the broader TOD objectives reshaping the Lower North Shore.

“The site is located adjacent to St Leonards Station and in close proximity to Crows Nest Metro which is within the Crows Nest Transit Orientated Development Accelerated Precinct which has been identified by the NSW Government to support housing delivery,” the Design Verification Statement noted.

According to fjcstudio, the project has been designed to respond to the broader transition occurring across St Leonards, where increasing residential density is being concentrated around transport infrastructure and employment hubs.

“The broader precinct is undergoing significant change, with a mix of existing mid-rise buildings and newer high-density developments,” the report stated.

“Recent and approved projects indicate a consistent shift toward taller built form, typically organised as tower-and-podium typologies with more active ground levels.”

The proposal includes close to 6,000 sqm of retail and commercial space across the ground floor and podium levels, designed to create a more activated street edge along Herbert Street.

Aqualand’s plans would also introduce a landscaped podium shared between the two towers, with communal open space in the form of a podium rooftop designed to support resident interaction and improve urban greening outcomes. The scheme would also introduce pocket parks at the northern and southern ends of the site, including a landscaped area at the corner of Herbert and Ella streets designed to improve pedestrian amenity and soften the streetscape.

&nbsp;

The proposal is being progressed through the NSW Government’s Housing Delivery Authority pathway, which was introduced to accelerate housing supply across the state. The application was declared State Significant Development in April 2025 following an expression of interest process.

<img alt="Aqualand" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="faf6d97d-2671-454f-b85a-fe1c6a7be608" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%209.51.49%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=diVd28OBVr5.YV.7prrOz.uAanwwwm7a" />

St Leonards has been particularly active with new developments in recent weeks. Developer SP Setia’s <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-sp-setia-targets-st-leonards-skyline-with-40-storey-tod-tower">plans for a new 42-storey tower</a> recently went on exhibition through the same pathway, while <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-stockland-plans-52-storey-538-apartment-st-leonards-tower">Stockland’s 52-storey tower proposal</a> was also recently unveiled.

Aside from the St Leonards project, which is expected to take around nine months to move through the approvals process ahead of a potential 2027 launch, Aqualand is also preparing to launch Boronia, a new apartment project in Roseville comprising around 111 apartments on Larkin Street.

The developer also has approvals in place for the next stage of the Barangaroo precinct, which will feature new residential, retail, hospitality and community uses, alongside a new metro entry across the five-hectare site.

More than 50 new retail destinations are planned for Central Barangaroo, alongside a 270-metre-long boulevard connecting Hickson Park to Nawi Cove. Together with Harbour Park, more than 50 per cent of the precinct will comprise public open space and parkland.

Michael Crawford

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