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GUEST OBSERVATION
Not long ago Australia’s housing boom was in full swing. Investors were betting on rising property values, which <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/product/state-of-the-market-report-june-2017/" target="_blank">rose by 13% in Sydney and 15% in Melbourne</a> in the year to mid-2017. Now the withdrawal of overseas buyers and prudential restrictions on loose lending to local investors have revealed how hollow the boom was.
Throughout the boom, politicians and property pundits consistently claimed the supply being delivered would improve affordability. As we are now seeing, when the price a property can fetch drops, so too does the desire to build it. It was rampant price growth that underpinned developers’ pleas to add supply, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/opinion-housing-need-cannot-fully-met-market-tim-williams/" target="_blank">not a desire to make housing more affordable</a>.
We are now seeing rapid declines in approvals and building starts as speculative investor demand, and the money it brought to the market, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/sydney-and-melbourne-house-values-fall-back-to-2016-levels-20190301-p5114v" target="_blank">has fallen away</a>.
Ironically, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-falling-house-prices-do-less-to-improve-affordability-than-you-might-think-111267" target="_blank">falling prices will not improve affordability for people locked out of the market</a>. Banks are tightening lending practices and stagnant wage growth limits the buying capacity of those <a href="https://www.afr.com/real-estate/rental-affordability-worse-for-lowpaid-workers-and-negative-gearing-is-to-blame-20181128-h18fya" target="_blank">trapped in the low-income economy</a>. True, falling prices are welcome for some first home buyers who now find a purchase possible. But the rapid inflation of house prices long ago far outstripped the capacity of most lower-income households to buy a home.
<a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/filling-the-gap/" target="_blank">Our analysis for the NSW Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA NSW) and Homelessness NSW</a>, building on <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/306" target="_blank">recent AHURI research</a>, shows that the market cannot meet around 12% of all households’ needs. Only one-third of those are housed outside the market in public or community housing. The rest are in overcrowded homes, rental stress or even homeless.
In the face of a housing market downturn, those same property pundits are now <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/why-labor-s-housing-policy-is-self-defeating-fraught-with-peril-20190228-p510u8" target="_blank">sternly warning against action</a> that would further dampen speculative investment in housing. However, this is precisely the moment to tackle the problems that have been building over many years and to set the dynamics of the housing system on a more affordable track.
Winding back speculative activity by cutting negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts, cracking down on inappropriate lending practices, and increasing regulation on unacceptable building practices should all be followed through in earnest across all levels of government.
Delivering the housing we need
The bigger question that remains then is: what is the future of the housing supply system across Australia?
History has shown us private sector investment alone cannot provide the needed housing, especially for the most vulnerable. Neither can it produce consistent supply through its boom-and-bust cycles. So now is also the moment for a renewed conversation about how to deliver the housing that’s most needed, and who ought to do it, especially for <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-costs-are-actually-the-same-as-in-1993-but-renters-still-struggle-95286" target="_blank">those facing chronic rental stress</a>.
Markets have never delivered housing affordable to those on low incomes without subsidy from governments. In fact, a mountain of subsidies and tax breaks have been thrown at the private market to support such an aim. These range from <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/housing-support/programmes-services/commonwealth-rent-assistance" target="_blank">Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a> to support private rental and grants to first time buyers, to negative gearing and capital gains tax relief for investors and home owners, but have had no discernible effect on affordability.
Faith in the markets has prevailed for the past 30 years. As a result, alternatives have been ruled out of play.
To cover the backlog of unmet need and future need, <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/filling-the-gap/" target="_blank">our new research commissioned by CHIA NSW and Homelessness NSW </a> predicts that, over the next 20 years, two in ten new homes would need to be for social housing and a further one in ten for affordable housing. Just shifting this third of construction to not-for-profit housing providers, either the community sector or government, would reduce delivery costs – by losing the 20% developer markup at a stroke.
More broadly, the funds needed to support a sustainable affordable housing program could easily be offset by the savings from scrapping current inefficient and inflationary tax subsidises to private investors.
The challenge of such a task cannot be underestimated. Yet this presents a considerable opportunity to resolve a range of interrelated problems with how housing is provided in Australia. Here are four of the biggest.
1. Stabilise the construction labour market
Social and affordable housing development would underwrite the construction industry with a steady stream of funding for building homes over the long term. Building industries mobilise considerable workforces. Stable streams of work would smooth out the dramatic drop in employment that comes with housing downturns.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-07/construction-decline-accelerates-amid-falling-prices-and-job-lo/10788782" target="_blank">Recent reports</a> have noted the accelerated decline in the construction industry. The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/house-price-falls-are-not-the-economy-s-biggest-worry-20190227-p510gk" target="_blank">Reserve Bank is warning</a> that shocks to wages and employment present a threat to the economy.
2. Support planning for a predictable supply
The planning system would benefit from having a large portion of projected housing needs met and supplied more predictably. The uncertainty of boom-bust housing cycles makes it near impossible to plan sensibly for population growth and implement strategic planning objectives across our cities and regions.
Planning for major infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and transport, relies on new housing arriving in a timely manner. Blanket <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/Understanding-inclusionary-zoning" target="_blank">inclusionary zoning</a> policies and discounted public land sales to support land supply for affordable homes need to be prerequisites.
3. The benefit of investing in affordable housing
If government spending on housing can be invested in the assets themselves (for example, through an equity share in the development), the expenditure will be retained both for an enduring social purpose and as a positive contribution to the accumulated asset base of government.
A properly designed, large-scale, not-for-profit program could mean investing in new housing becomes a positive for state and national balance sheets. This requires a shift in behaviour and mindsets of some Treasury officials who often see social housing as a liability.
4. Drive broad productivity dividends
<a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/strengthening-economic-cases-housing-productivity-gains-better-housing-outcomes/" target="_blank">Other recent research</a> for CHIA NSW shows investment in suitably located social and affordable housing has much wider economic benefits. These include travel time savings for lower-income workers currently pushed into the outer suburbs, as well as human capital uplift resulting from long-term positive impacts on household incomes.
Similarly, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/265" target="_blank">government budgets benefit from reducing demand on social services</a>.
In short, the evidence-based economic case for government investment in social and affordable housing is strong. Given the impending fallout of a property bust following the largest property boom in Australian history, now is the time to act and reshape the nation’s housing system for the long term.
But do we have governments capable of conceiving of the necessary policy shifts or with the courage to enact them? Time, and the next election, will tell.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113113/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Laurence Troy, Research Fellow, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
Bill Randolph, Director, City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW
Ryan van den Nouwelant, Lecturer in Urban Management and Planning, Western Sydney University
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/build-social-and-affordable-housing-to-get-us-off-the-boom-and-bust-roller-coaster-113113" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Build social and affordable housing to get us off the boom-and-bust roller coaster

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Federal and state elections in coming weeks provide a timely moment for Australians to reflect on the increasingly obvious failure of governments to manage the triple crises of inflated property prices, lack of <a href="https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/providers/housing/affordable/about/chapters/what-is-affordable-housing" target="_blank">affordable housing</a> for people on low to moderate incomes, and property market volatility. The likely <a href="http://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2018/12/shorten-places-housing-at-the-centre-of-the-2019-election/" target="_blank">prominence of housing in the federal poll</a> at least, if not in New South Wales, perhaps signals welcome political recognition that decades of complacency and inaction are to blame for housing system under-performance. And it’s <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/strengthening-economic-cases-housing-productivity-gains-better-housing-outcomes/" target="_blank">costing the country dearly</a>.
There’s a growing sense that core aspects of the governmental mindset that have underpinned housing policy since the 1980s are long overdue for a rethink. And not just in Australia. Our recent <a href="https://shapingfutures.gla.ac.uk/" target="_blank">knowledge exchange project</a>, involving academics, policymakers and professionals in Australia, Britain and Canada (the “ABC countries”), <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/shaping-futures-changing-housing-story/" target="_blank">tapped into these debates</a>.
A misplaced faith in markets
Our <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/shaping-futures-changing-housing-story/" target="_blank">Shaping Futures report</a> identifies important common housing features across the ABC countries. These include their overarching “liberal market” approach (for example, relatively light regulation of private rental housing) and the challenges of managing population-driven growth in cities.
In all three countries, a similar set of foundational beliefs has dominated housing policy for decades. One is an increasingly misplaced faith that housing markets are well-functioning systems. Another is that issues of poor housing and high housing costs are seen purely in terms of redistributive welfare. The impacts on growth and productivity are largely ignored.
Governments of the ABC countries have increasingly delegated responsibilities for coping with national and global pressures on housing. At the same time, they have provided little more autonomy and limited resources for cities and regions to respond to these pressures.
All three nations have seen falling home ownership rates for young adults and long-term declines in home ownership affordability – <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-8462.12174" target="_blank">among the most severe in the OECD</a>. Household debt rates are <a href="https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm" target="_blank">close to the highest in the OECD</a>.
Inflated demand is increasing stress in private rental markets. It’s coming from growing numbers of frustrated middle-income aspirant homebuyers and from low-income tenants denied access to social housing by a proportionately smaller supply.
<a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/strengthening-economic-cases-housing-productivity-gains-better-housing-outcomes/" target="_blank">In Sydney in 2017</a>, moderate-earning and low-earning tenants paid, on average, more than A$6,000 a year in rent over and above 30% of their incomes. And that still didn’t spare them the growing costs and lost productivity of commutes commonly exceeding 90 minutes.
Research in <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au" target="_blank">Sydney</a>, <a href="https://council.vancouver.ca/20171128/documents/rr1.pdf" target="_blank">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/housing-london" target="_blank">London</a> demonstrates that to quantify the real burdens of city housing shortages we need integrated analysis of housing and transport outcomes.
Housing failures have broader consequences
Housing outcomes, including quality, price and location, have significant impacts on the “big goals” of governments.
Regressive subsidies (such as tax concessions for property owners) have worsened rather than offset the effects of rising rents and house prices on income inequality and wealth distribution. In all three countries inequality indices have increased over the last two decades. And in the UK, at least, <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-for-the-new-parliament/social-reform/social-mobility/" target="_blank">social mobility is lower than in other developed countries</a>. Housing systems have been at the heart of these changes.
We should aim to boost economic productivity by enhancing human capital – that is, maximising people’s opportunities and capabilities. Instead, there is an emerging sense that growth dividends have been sunk into raising housing and land prices, through investor speculation. This rentier-driven, rather than entrepreneur-led, economic growth has reduced the housing market’s resilience to cyclical instability.
Piecemeal policies aren’t enough
At least until very recently, longstanding systemic housing problems have generally failed to evoke major policy responses. When interventions have been considered necessary, these have tended to be restricted to homelessness and to helping marginal homebuyers. This has often been done in ways that have proved counterproductive by pumping up demand.
With the possible exception of the UK devolved nations, government housing policymaking capacity has been largely emasculated across all three ABC countries over the past 10-20 years. Housing ministries and agencies have been abolished or “integrated” into human services departments.
Likewise, Shaping Futures stakeholders were unimpressed with recycled policy proposals. One example is suggestions that <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/human-services/reforms/report" target="_blank">income allowances for individuals should replace direct supports for housing supply</a>. Another is that planning is the prime cause of supply-side “stickiness” that holds up the delivery of new housing.
One response would be to join some of our academic colleagues in attributing such shortcomings to a misguided faith in managed markets. We might even echo calls to restore pre-1980s housing policy instruments such as big public housing, deep rent controls, tied subsidies and the like.
However, the reality is that markets are likely to remain a preferred basis for our housing systems. The above diagnoses and prescriptions also overlook the possibility that some post-1980s innovations have produced significant policy progress. The emergence – particularly in the UK – of regulated not-for-profit organisational models is an important case in point.
Nevertheless, minor tinkering will resolve none of the major housing system problems that have become all too apparent in the ABC countries since the turn of the century, and especially since the GFC.
Key features of a solution
As well as a commitment to housing as a higher priority for government spending, a new understanding of how housing systems operate and what housing outcomes achieve is urgently needed. In particular:
<ul>
<li>
The housing sector needs to make <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/strengthening-economic-cases-housing-productivity-gains-better-housing-outcomes/" target="_blank">stronger economic cases for support</a>, while treasury and finance ministries must improve their comprehension of housing markets. Advocates need to voice the productivity case for housing; policymakers need to take it seriously.
</li>
<li>
As failed economic thinking for housing policies has generated unstable and expensive housing outcomes, the conventional wisdom finds easy scapegoats in the regulatory planning system. Yes, unduly tight regulation will hinder supply, but no more so than failure to invest adequately in infrastructure and, indeed, shortages of construction labour and materials. Again, the challenge for treasuries is to resist the simplistic “economics 101” analysis that fails to recognise <a href="https://www.marsdens.net.au/assets/pdf/Peter-Phibbs-LE-2018.pdf" target="_blank">the special qualities of housing and land markets</a>.
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
Far from further downgrading its influence, planning needs to be cast in a more central role to extract infrastructure-and-planning-induced gains. Critical here is the recognition that “<a href="https://theconversation.com/england-expects-40-of-new-housing-developments-will-be-affordable-why-cant-australia-94581" target="_blank">inclusionary zoning</a>” essentially taxes “scarcity rents”. And – unlike tax-funded housing expenditure – it creates no drag on growth and productivity.
</li>
<li>
Governments in Australia and Canada need to fully recognise <a href="http://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2017/04/ready-for-growth-has-australias-affordable-housing-industry-got-what-it-takes/" target="_blank">the potential of non-profits</a> to deliver not just low-income housing but mixes of renting, owning and shared ownership. This creates opportunities for younger households as well as better neighbourhoods.
</li>
<li>
Governments must reshape young adult routes into home ownership. At the same time, they must avoid over-reliance on crudely designed central bank policies on deposit limits and lending ratios uniformly applied across diverse local housing markets.
</li>
</ul>
Reforms to ensure better housing outcomes in the ABC countries are possible. Significant modernisation of private rental regulation in <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-on-rental-housing-reform-103825" target="_blank">Scotland, Victoria</a> and <a href="https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/381/2018/12/RHTF-Recommendations-and-WWH-Report_Dec2018_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">British Columbia</a> provides recent cases in point.
Most such steps will depend, however, on governments providing additional or redirected resources. Even more, they require housing systems to be administered at regional and local level with evidence-based understanding and commitment.
Many of the housing problems that distress urban communities across the ABC countries stem from “a veil of ignorance”. There’s an official disregard for evidence and mistaken adherence to simplistic narratives that play down significant market failures.
Households, communities and cities deserve better futures. <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/shaping-futures-changing-housing-story/" target="_blank">Shaping them is feasible</a>.
A convincing pitch to do so could well prove critical in swinging young voters’ allegiance and, as a result, the results of Australia’s imminent elections.
Duncan Maclennan, Professorial Research Fellow in Urban Economics, UNSW; Professor of Strategic Urban Management and Finance, University of St Andrews; Professor in Public Policy, University of Glasgow
Hal Pawson, Associate Director - City Futures - Urban Policy and Strategy, City Futures Research Centre, Housing Policy and Practice, UNSW
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-policy-reset-is-overdue-and-not-only-in-australia-112835" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Housing policy reset is overdue, and not only in Australia

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GUEST OBSERVATION
When former Trade Minister Andrew Robb took to the ABC’s <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/andrew-robb-blames-coalition-leaders-for-toxic-china-relations/10891384" target="_blank">AM program</a> to sound off about a “toxic” relationship between Australia and China, he exposed a rippling debate about how to manage an increasingly comlex foreign and security policy challenge.
Long gone are the days of the John Howard formula that <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-10335" target="_blank">Australia did not have to choose</a> between its history, meaning America, and its geography, meaning China. Choices are no longer binary.
While the Robb word “toxic” may be an exaggeration, stresses in Australia-China relations are such it is clear we have entered a new and more challenging phase.
For a start, China is undergoing what is, arguably, the most testing moment of an economic transformation that began in 1978 at the third plenary of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. This is when <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-politics-explainer-deng-xiaopings-rise-to-power-103032" target="_blank">Deng Xiaoping re-emerged</a> to initiate one of the more remarkable economic shifts of the modern era.
Apart from a hiatus caused by the Tienanmen uprising in 1989, and an economic soft-landing in the mid-1990s, China has bounded ahead economically, and has seemed unstoppable – until now.
China’s economy and political system has encountered the sort of difficulties that were inevitable. Put simply, an investment driven – as opposed to consumer-led – model is running its course, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-24/china-deleveraging-is-dead-as-34-trillion-debt-habit-roars-back" target="_blank">piling up massive government and bank debt in the process</a>.
China risks becoming caught in a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-13/xi-s-leading-china-s-economy-into-the-middle-income-trap" target="_blank">“middle income trap”</a> in which a developing country, having enacted the easier reforms, gets stuck in second gear in its effort to push ahead with its economic transformation.
You can only build so many road, bridges, fast trains, airports, ports and housing developments. Many of the latter have become “ghost cities”.
At this month’s National People’s Congress, the annual session of China’s “parliament”, Premier Li Keqiang gave what was, by Chinese standards for these sort of cheerleading events, an <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-economy-growth-20190305-story" target="_blank">unusually downbeat assessment of challenges ahead</a>.
China, Li said, faces difficulties “of a kind rarely seen in many years”.
What is undeniable is that China’s economy is faltering, its ability to create millions of new jobs annually to employ a restless population is being stretched, and its management of a continuing economic transformation has come under unusual stress. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45899310" target="_blank">US-China trade tensions</a> are not helping.
In counterpoint to the need for a more dynamic economic environment, its leadership, under President Xi Jinping, is asserting even tighter political controls when it should be giving freer rein to its entrepreneurial class.
This is the central contradiction of a model that has delivered what is the most extraordinary event in world economic history since the industrial revolution. But that model clearly has its limitations compared with those, say, of neighbouring Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
From an Australian perspective, a slowing and, perhaps more to the point, anxious China is not good news. While economists might argue that a slowdown and thus the need for Beijing to stimulate its economy by ramping up infrastructure projects will benefit iron ore and coal exporters, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-29/china-not-house-price-downturn-the-major-risk-deloitte/10750342" target="_blank">economic pressures more generally should be concerning</a>.
A Chinese regime that feels itself under stress from within and without may prove to be more cantankerous, and unpredictable. Australian policymakers should be mindful of the consequences of China getting through this difficult stage without mishap.
Of course, forests have been felled publishing predictions China would be unable to maintain its remarkable transformation since early glimmers of an opening to the outside world appeared in 1978, two years after Mao Zedong’s death.
This brings us back to Andrew Robb’s observation about a “toxic” relationship between Beijing and Canberra. Referring to the shelving of a plan to develop a health precinct in China to match that of the Texas Medical Centre – the world’s largest medical facility – Robb said central government officials had kyboshed the arrangement due to ongoing tensions with Australia.
Australian medical professionals would have helped establish the facility. Robb said Landbridge (the company for which Robb was consulting) was told in no uncertain terms by the seniors officials that unfortunately the relationship between Australia and China had become so toxic that this would be put in the bin.
Leaving aside Robb’s own chagrin at losing a lucrative consultancy, what is the fair judgement about the state of Australia-China relations?
And, what of Robb’s criticism of sections of the Australian security establishment, notably the Australian Strategic Policy Institute? He accused ASPI, a hothouse of China negativity, of being “a mouthpiece of the US security agencies and its defence industry”.
Given ASPI’s hawkish views on China more generally, Robb has a point.
His assessment is correct that China-Australia relations were off-track when the decision was made to scupper the Landbridge-proposed medical facility. But it is also the true that by the end of last year the relationship had been “reset”.
Foreign Minister <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-and-china-push-the-reset-button-on-an-important-relationship-106428" target="_blank">Marise Payne went to China in November</a> for what was described as a cordial exchange. This followed a two-year freeze in relations during which no senior Australian official was welcomed in Beijing.
China had made no secret of its displeasure over speeches delivered over time by both then <a href="https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/keynote-address-at-the-16th-iiss-asia-security-summit-shangri-la-dialogue" target="_blank">Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull</a> and then <a href="https://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/Pages/2017/jb_sp_170313a.aspx" target="_blank">Foreign Minister Julie Bishop</a> in which they had criticised Beijing’s expansionist activities in the South China Sea, and, in Bishop’s case, China’s political model.
Turnbull compounded the situation when he misappropriated an expression attributed to Mao in proclaiming the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949. Australia had “stood up”, Turnbull said, when unveiling laws designed to curb foreign interference in Australian domestic affairs.
Next day, Turnbull made things worse by <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-09/malcolm-turnbull-says-he-will-stand-up-for-australia/9243274" target="_blank">repeating Mao’s words in Mandarin</a> in his description of legislation that was clearly aimed at Chinese influence.
So what of Robb’s comments? Whatever toxicity existed between Canberra and Beijing seems to have dissipated somewhat. However, real risks remain in management of what is Australia’s most challenging relationship.
It is no good pretending otherwise. China is not a benign power. It will seek to get away with what it can. It resists abiding by a roadmap for a rules-based international order, as we understand it. It will use cyber technology ruthlessly to advance its interests by dubious means, on occasions. It will “disappear” foreign nationals of those countries which incur its displeasure. It will invest in agents of influence in the Australian system. This includes universities.
All this requires a level of vigilance on the part of the security agencies, and, possibly, a new White Paper aimed specifically at just how Australia might manage a complex relationship that is likely to become, more, not less, complicated.
Bear in mind <a href="https://dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/Documents/chin.pdf" target="_blank">one in three export dollars</a> depends on a functioning relationship with China.
This is an unsatisfactory situation, but it is the reality.
On the other hand, no purpose is served by yielding to a Canberra security establishment whose machinations risk chilling a relationship that needs to be warmed up, not cooled down.
Former ambassador to China, Stephen Fitzgerald, proffered some good advice this week when he said in a <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/troy-bramston/why-canberra-must-reset-its-relationship-with-china/news-story/ab9403cb437c2f53b68ca760609908c8" target="_blank">newspaper interview</a> that Australia needed to deepen its engagement with China rather than draw back, since, unlike the US, we are “living in a Chinese world”.
That, whether we like it or not, is the case.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113545/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinese-australia-relations-may-not-be-toxic-but-they-do-need-to-keep-warming-up-113545" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Chinese-Australia relations may not be ‘toxic’, but they do need to keep warming up

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One of regional New South Wales’ most stately historic manors has sold for $2.15 million.
<a href="http://ecomms.raywhite.com/collect/click.aspx?u=jRYOrR8N39QzG/Nyy8oj1LLoitAzgxBr7RUZbICQ9GnmXJi34Z7r2YdPK/H5V+ifO1VLKjZA45tsQTIf/pNXfKDhK+4yRRVaKl9RfjnywceksNafShs6MpQJuwp4dMtr&amp;rh=ff004855efa71633f9527e59d94cbd8afeee785a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable">Hurstville</a>, an 1861 country house in Goulburn, was offered through Ray White Goulburn agent Justin Gay, who had held the previous regional record of $1.15 million six years ago with a $1.15 million under 4000 square metres.
The buyers were from farming land at Stubbo, just over a four hour drive north of Goulburn, and purchased the property to be closer to family.
“Farming and earth moving is their history,” Gay said.
“Many years ago the gentleman used to stay around the corner in a big boarding house-like accommodation, and fell in love with Hurstville. He was at the auction of the property when it was derelict and sold previously, and had kept his eyes on it over the years.” 
Sydney-based sellers Peter Caucino and Yvonne Aris extensively renovated Hurstville after purchasing it in 2004 from the Anglican Church, when it was six rundown flats.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/3/12/PRINT_img_5306-img_5308-r1.jpg" alt="">
The five-bedroom house, on a 2567 square metre parcel of land, contains formal living rooms, two studies, a wine cellar, garden room and vast entertaining terrace.
The interiors feature chandeliers, fireplaces, bay windows, soaring 3.6 metre ceilings, French doors, marble benchtops and stone floors.
The Victorian Italianate house was designed for Anne Hurst, the widow of the wealthy Methodist Minister, The Reverend Benjamin Hurst, who died in 1857.
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Historic Goulburn manor Hurstville sold for $2.15 million

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The drought in the Tamworth region continues to have a significant impact on the number of rural properties on the market.
It is also affecting the level of demand from prospective buyers, according to the latest Herron Todd White (HTW) rural report.
The report suggests the short to medium term seasonal outlook which is looking like the dry conditions may continue into winter is also concerning for buyers.
Since the start of 2018, there have been approximately 25 rural and rural lifestyle sales of property in excess of 200 hectares in the Tamworth region, which is down from approximately 48 rural and rural lifestyle properties sold in 2017/2018.
The predominant buyers are in the lifestyle category who have off-farm incomes, with some neighbor-to-neighbour sales also occurring.
With very low on-farm incomes over the past 18 to 24 months, and in some cases over 24 months, sellers are under increased pressure with evidence to suggest they’re needing to reduce asking prices to meet the market, the valuation firm notes.
At this stage, with a low turnover of sales transactions, it is harder to gauge how the drought is affecting rural values. There are a handful of properties purchased in 2016 and 2017 that have been re-listed for sale. When or if they sell will give a better idea of how the drought is affecting land value.
"From the sales that have occurred, it appears that the median hectare rate has steadied and remains firm," said HTW.
"We are yet to see a significant drop in rural land values."
A current $775,000 listing is a 64 acre Tamworth mix-farming property (pictured above). 
Located at<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-mixed+farming-nsw-tamworth-700018078" target="_blank"> 64 Porcupine Lane</a>, it comes with three bedroom house, workshop, tac room, woodshed, and garden shed.
There is a disused piggery and seven paddocks plus five small holding paddocks.
A recently serviced bore with an electric pump provides water to a header tank that supplies eight troughs and there are three dams.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/3/5/tamworth%202.jpg" alt="">
Oakview, a 455 hectare farm in Tamworth, has been recently sold (pictured above).
It was listed for sale with $1.415 million to $1.65 million hopes. 
Situated only 30 kilometres to Tamworth CBD, Oakview at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-livestock-nsw-tamworth-700006390" target="_blank">701 Mulla Creek Road </a>comes with creek flats, arable slopes, and 3 kilometres of frontage. 
The weatherboard homestead features four bedrooms, separate informal and formal living areas, and covered deck with views.
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Tamworth sees a significant drop in rural land values: HTW rural 

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Former financial adviser, Gabriel Nakhl, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for engaging in dishonest conduct
He was convicted on eight charges (<a href="https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2018-releases/18-178mr-former-financial-adviser-convicted-for-dishonest-conduct/" target="_blank">18-178MR</a>), brought by ASIC, of engaging in dishonest conduct with investor funds, after being found guilty in the District Court of New South Wales.
According to ASIC, the conduct affected 12 investors while Mr Nakhl was a representative of Australian Financial Services Limited (in liquidation) and as sole director of SydFA Pty Ltd (deregistered).
The court found Mr Nakhl advised clients to set up self-managed superannuation funds and to invest their superannuation and other funds in products such as shares, managed funds and high interest rate bank accounts.
Rather than investing the 12 investors’ funds in these products, Mr Nakhl used these funds 'as he pleased' and for his own purposes.
Mr Nakhl then lied to the investors, telling them that he had invested their funds in accordance with his advice and that their investments were performing well.
Mr Nakhl also tried to cover up his wrongdoing by having these 12 investors sign documents that supposedly authorised Mr Nakhl to use the funds in the way he did.
These 12 investors allowed Mr Nakhl to invest approximately $6.7 million on their behalf. Mr Nakhl lost approximately $5.1 million of these invested funds.
'Mr Nakhl deliberately misled his clients and used their savings as he pleased. Clients should be able to trust their financial advisers. In this case, Mr Nakhl dishonestly and deliberately breached his clients’ trust. ASIC welcomes the sentencing decision handed down today,' said ASIC Commissioner Sean Hughes.
ASIC obtained orders against Mr Nakhl in February 2013, freezing his assets (<a href="https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2013-releases/13-023mr-asic-obtains-court-orders-against-sydney-financial-adviser/" target="_blank">13-023MR</a>). In April 2013, the amounts frozen in interim orders against Mr Nakhl were approximately $7.7 million.
In November 2013, Mr Nakhl was permanently prevented from providing financial services. He is also not allowed to manage a company until 2028 (<a href="https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2013-releases/13-313mr-sydney-adviser-removed-from-financial-services/" target="_blank">13-313MR</a>).  
 
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Former financial adviser Gabriel Nakhl sentenced to 10 years in jail: ASIC

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Vietnamese food truck Nuoc Mama will open its first bricks and mortar site on Sydney Road in Brunswick.
Situated at Shop 2, 623 - 625 Sydney Road, the 160 sqm ground floor space is at the base of the 29-apartment Cannatella mixed-use development by Westlock Pty Ltd.
Fitzroys Agency Executive, Ervin Niyaz negotiated the 4+4+4-year lease to Tian Con and Co. Pty Ltd, trading as Nuoc Mama, at $47,000 per annum net.
“Brunswick is renowned for its eclectic lifestyle and hospitality offering, and Nuoc Mama will be able to capitalise on the strong following it has generated while adding a unique offering to this section of Sydney Road,” Niyaz said.
According to realestate,com.au listing views, Brunswick remains one of Melbourne’s most sought-after apartment markets in 2019.
There are approximately 1,500 apartments in the area that have either been recently completed or are in various stages of planning and construction.
According to Fitzroys’ Walk the Strip report, retail vacancies along the stretch of Sydney Road from Victoria Street up to Moreland Road came down from 10.2% in 2017 to 6.5% last year.
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Vietnamese food truck operator open eatery in Brunswick

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FDM Group, a global Recruit, Train and Deploy (RTD) company, has begun its tenancy at the International Towers, Tower Three at Barangaroo. 
FDM joins tenants the likes of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Indigenous performing arts company Bangarra Dance Theatre, and global fintechs CMC Markets and OnMarket. 
Among others including, KPMG, law firm Gilbert + Tobin, global reinsurer Swiss Re Lendlease, which developed International Towers Sydney, Westpac Group and Visa.
FDM’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rod Flavell, said "Sydney is a really important area for us to invest in and APAC has proved to be a fantastic region for the business to grow in.
International Towers General Manager, Mr Tony Byrne said FDM Group was an impressive addition to the high-growth, tenant partner roster being established within the two towers. 
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Global RTD company FDM begins tenancy at International Towers, Barangaroo

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The Professionals Montgomery Group, with three offices across Sydney’s St George region, has made the decision to rebrand to Belle Property.
“The St George area is a vital part of our growth strategy so choosing the right team to drive our market presence was crucial,” said Peter Hanscomb, CEO of Belle Property.
“Directors Michael Kaye, Mark Somboli and Kristina Lee are incredibly talented and committed, and we know they are the right people to lead the brand's expansion in the area.” 
The Professionals Montgomery Group has been operating for over 40 years,
Director of Belle Property St George, Mark Somboli said “while we are seeing a correction to all property prices across the state, it is St George that once again shines with buyers from all over Sydney relishing the affordable home values that make this area the vibrant family destination that it has become renowned for." 
Belle Property St George services the greater area across residential sales and property management from three offices – Kogarah, Allawah and Penshurst.
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Professionals Montgomery Group rebrand to Belle Property

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The NSW Liberals &amp; Nationals Government said they are investing $750 million for the redevelopment of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
It is the largest investment in the hopsital's 137-year history.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said, "this $750 million commitment for the Stage 1 redevelopment of RPA is a game changer for medical staff and patients."
The Stage 1 redevelopment will include expansion of the Emergency and Imaging departments, reconfiguration and expansion of operating theatres and integration of ambulatory care services.
Mr Hazzard said the Liberals &amp; Nationals Government is investing more than $8 billion in health infrastructure over the next four years, and has invested nearly $10 billion since 2011.
“The NSW Liberals &amp; Nationals Government has already built or upgraded more than 100 hospitals and other health facilities across the State and now RPA is getting its turn"
Redevelopment commenced with the transformation of the Professor Marie Bashir Centre opened in 2014, and the $34.6 million staff car park opened in 2018, in addition to its ongoing support of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
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Royal Prince Alfred Hospital set for $750 Million redevelopment

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

Joel Robinson

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

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

Sherpa acquires new site for second Brisbane apartment tower

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

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

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

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

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