<html><body>
Brisbane City Council has approved the transformation of a 135-year old heritage building at Brisbane’s 320 George Street into a multi-use 30-storey commercial tower.
Hames Sharley, the architects in charge of the redevelopment’s design, claim it would likely be one of the narrowest high-rise buildings in the CBD.
Hames Sharley architect Jason Preston, who heads up the firm’s Brisbane studio, said the building’s narrowness meant the design needed to be innovative in dealing with the challenges of structural tension, compression and stability.
“At just nine and a half metres wide and 30 stories tall, we believe this would be the narrowest building of a comparable height in Brisbane,” Preston said.
“Given the building’s four lifts are designed as a ‘side core’ to the west boundary wall, a building of this kind will twist and sway differently to a traditional tower, which is usually anchored by a number of central lifts, stair cores and a larger floor plate.
“Working closely in collaboration with Currie and Brown (project managers) and ADG (structural and façade engineers), we proposed a hybrid ‘exo-skeleton’ bracing system for the building, both as a structural necessity and to visually anchor the building, whilst retaining a typical continuous glazed curtain wall as the external skin.”
Owned by ‘Lionmar Holdings’, 320 George Street will feature 9,100 square metres of boutique commercial office space, three levels of restaurant space, apartments and 17 carparks, with a rooftop bar above.
“At the building’s base, the fine dining restaurant will feature a three-storey open view to the city that will give diners an indoor and outdoor experience by taking full advantage of the beautiful sub-tropical Brisbane climate,” Preston said.
“Atop 320 George Street, the rooftop bar will feature prominent views across the Brisbane River to South Brisbane and through the CBD.
“There is also an expansive 400 square metre city room and garden on level 14 for tenants to enjoy, which is becoming a normal integrated part of key CBD developments since the inception of BCC’s Building’s that Breathe Guide.”
Due to the building’s heritage listing, the façade will remain as a vital acknowledgement to the city’s history and will be restored under the expert guidance of heritage expert Malcolm Elliot from Vault Heritage Consulting Pty Ltd.
<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/2019/8/14/63090_320%20George%20St_03.jpg" alt="">
Preston said most of the interior heritage features were gutted in the 1980s when 320 George Street was rebuilt internally.
“There is existing original brick work which has been covered in plaster during one of the past renovations,” he said.
“We are proposing to peel back the layers of render to expose the original brick work internally in the lobby.”
When complete, the building is expected to earn A-grade commercial development status due to its sustainability characteristics, high-end lobby finishes, express lifts and high- performing services.
The design incorporates nationally recognised sustainability characteristics to ensure its long-term viability and performance in the Brisbane CBD.
Preston said Hames Sharley’s design incorporated the client’s desire for a grand entrance that honoured the heritage status of the existing building.
“The scale of the floor plates is quite conducive to smaller operations and quick fitout turn-around.
“Located within the legal precinct of Brisbane, there is potential for tenants to scale up and secure extra space when there is a demand quickly.”
As the first redevelopment of a heritage site along the 320-372 George Street block, the development provides the catalyst for further revitalisation and renewed activation through this quarter of the Brisbane CBD.
Construction of the building is expected to start before Christmas 2019.
<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/2019/8/14/63090_320%20George%20St_01.jpg" alt=""> 
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

DA approved for one of Brisbane’s narrowest highrise buildings

<html><body>
A three level red brick building in Clifton Hill is on the market with $4.9 million hopes.
The property at 24 Groom Street with an area of 925 square metres is on a corner site.
It has a site area of 340 square metres plus additional seven off street car parks. 
The vendor has recently completed a strip out of the until recent commercial office use of the building which now exposes the cavernous building spaces and the fabric of the structure. 
Gray Johnson director Brett Simpson says these works also expose the opportunity to create a single floor repurposing.
“There is even an opportunity to add mezzanine floor spaces,” Brett Simpson adds. 
“The character is derived from the history of uses dating back to the 1900s with the 24 Groom Street building acquiring its history and various uses along the way. 
“For instance, this building was taken over in September 1911 by the then Department of Defence and became the home of the Commonwealth Harness, Saddlery and Leather Accoutrements Factory, with an occupancy that extended until the late 1920s as a manufacturer of equipment for the armed forces. 
“I understand that during this period it became the provider of harness equipment for the Battle of Beersheba and other major World War One military campaigns. 
“There is still a commemorative plaque on the building façade acknowledging the contribution the building made to the Australian Military Forces from 1912-23. 
“During 1930s the building became the Bourke &amp; Cooke boot factory, before Zig Zag Paper took over manufacturing their legendary roll-your-own cigarette papers here.”
<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/2019/8/14/GJ%2024%20GROOM%20STREET%20STRIPPED%20OUT.jpg" alt="">
In 1973, it was acquired by National Can Industries to manufacture many of Australia’s famous tin can packaging here.
National Can on the closure of manufacturing here continued to occupy the building as their corporate office until recently. 
“It holds a Mixed Use zoning with city views able to be accessed from the property’s location that is just off Hoddle Street and the access to the Eastern Freeway,” Simpson said. 
“The property has two street frontages of 16 metres to Groom Street and a side frontage to Yarrabing Lane of another 25 metres. 
“Now exposed by the strip out works are the historic building features including exposed timber beams, ceilings and floors, brickwork, with a goods lift remaining in place.”
</body></html>

Historic Clifton Hill commercial building listed for $4.9 million

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
Australia has made a global commitment to “sustainable agriculture”, an endeavour seen as increasingly crucial to ending world poverty, halting biodiversity loss, and combating climate change.
A recent report from the UN found land use – including food production – is responsible for around <a href="https://theconversation.com/un-climate-change-report-land-clearing-and-farming-contribute-a-third-of-the-worlds-greenhouse-gases-121551" target="_blank">one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions</a>.
Unfortunately, Australia has something of a sustainable agriculture policy vacuum, after years of a fragmented, stop-start approach.
To honour our international obligations and respond to growing sustainability markets, Australia urgently needs a contemporary definition of sustainable agriculture, including agreed on-farm metrics.
Good policy abandoned
Australia spent more than a decade developing promising policies that defined sustainable agriculture with broad indicators for measuring progress.
In 1997 Australia passed <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nhtoaa1997371/" target="_blank">federal legislation</a> defining “sustainable agriculture” as:
"Agricultural practices and systems that maintain or improve […] the economic viability of agricultural production; the social viability and well-being of rural communities; […] biodiversity; the natural resource base [and] ecosystems that are influenced by agricultural activities."
The following year, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management published a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8552310?selectedversion=NBD44018881" target="_blank">broad set indicators</a>.
During the early 2000s a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3572009" target="_blank">national framework</a> of Environmental Management Systems was developed, and <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5717700" target="_blank">national pilots</a> were conducted across Australia up until 2006.
Between <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4624.0Main+Features12004-05?OpenDocument" target="_blank">2004</a> and <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4620.0" target="_blank">2006</a> the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded farmers’ investment in natural resource management. However these surveys have not been replicated in more than a decade.
In 2005, the states and territories formed a joint working group to create a national approach to property management systems. This group met with industry representatives and regional land managers throughout 2006, and in 2007 the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry planned a pathway for a national policy. There was much hope and enthusiasm it would soon become a reality.
However, since 2008 there has been no progress and little, if any, explanation for why this important sustainable agriculture policy initiative was shelved.
Current policy vacuum
It is concerning that Australia’s first progress report on implementing the <a href="https://dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/development-issues/2030-agenda/Documents/sdg-voluntary-national-review.pdf" target="_blank">sustainable development goals</a> contains the words “sustainable agriculture” only once in 130 pages, as part of the heading for the goal of ending hunger.
The definition arrived at in 1997 is far too broad and simplistic, and can’t be used at the farm level.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture reiterated their commitment to improving sustainable food production, and said:
"Australia is involved in global discussions about how best to measure sustainable agriculture performance […] However a globally agreed methodology has not been set for [agricultural sustainability]."
Australia’s only substantial sustainable agriculture policy mechanism at the moment appears to be grants available through the <a href="http://www.nrm.gov.au/" target="_blank">National Landcare Program</a>. This is reiterated by searching through key Coalition <a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan" target="_blank">policy documents</a> and the recent budget.
The budget allocation to the overall National Landcare Program is around A$1 billion from 2017 to 2023. New programs announced in the 2019 budget that build on this commitment include:
<ul>
<li>A$100 million over four years for the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/environment-restoration-fund" target="_blank">environment restoration fund</a>,</li>
<li>A$34 million over four years for a new biodiversity stewardship program,</li>
<li>A$28.3 million for a new communities environment program for 2019-20, and</li>
<li>A$2 billion over 15 years for the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/government/climate-solutions-fund" target="_blank">climate solutions fund</a>.</li>
</ul>
These programs combined equate to some A$354 million per year. But a coherent sustainable agriculture policy cannot be delivered through grants alone.
And even though these grants are substantial, past ABS surveys found that farmers invest at least A$3 billion a year in natural resource management. The Indigenous on-country contribution is currently unknown, but likely to be substantial.
Caring for country fund
Around 10% of Australia’s population lives in rural or remote areas. These comparatively small communities – largely farmers and Indigenous land managers – currently steward most of the country.
A review released in late July on how <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/information-for/farmers/agriculture-review" target="_blank">conservation laws affect the agriculture sector</a> has recommended the federal government create a A$1 billion fund for farmers who deliver environment benefits from their land.
This mirrors calls from farmers for an <a href="https://mk0australianfa1qtvu.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NFF_2019-Federal-Election-Platform_2_Growing-Sustainably.pdf" target="_blank">ecosystem services fund</a>.
If our <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/2016-17-Tax-Stats-released/" target="_blank">13.9 million</a> taxpayers contributed some A$60 each per year in a “caring for country” levy, urban and rural Australians could more fairly share the costs – as well as the advantages – of sustainable land management.
We could start with revisiting the good work undertaken more than a decade ago in developing a national framework for property management systems.
Underpinning such a system, we need an independent and trusted source of metrics for farmers, land managers and agricultural industries. To this end, the University of New England is <a href="/news">establishing a research hub</a> to help develop just such a harmonised approach.
There are many good news stories of sustainable agriculture around Australia, however our ongoing biodiversity crisis requires transformative policy change and federal leadership.
One bold first step would be addressing the current paradox of sustainable agriculture in Australia.

<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120597/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">

Jacqueline Williams, Senior Research Fellow &amp; Lecturer, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England.
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/australia-urgently-needs-real-sustainable-agriculture-policy-120597" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

Australia urgently needs real sustainable agriculture policy

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION 
Last week’s hearings at the aged care royal commission in Brisbane looked at regulation in aged care. While rules and regulations are designed to safeguard residents, bureaucratic “red tape” also contributes to the failings in aged care.
The fear among nursing home staff of failing a review visit by an Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission surveyor has been known to shift the focus from care for residents to meeting paper trail requirements.
The best outcome for aged care residents and their families would be new reporting requirements <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335110268_The_Distinction_between_Process_and_Outcomes_Focused_Governance_and_Accountability_Frameworks" target="_blank">centred on outcomes rather than processes</a>. Their primary focus should be on the mediation of critical incidents – that is, looking at what caused them and how they could be prevented in future – and the maintenance of health.
How did we get here?
The crisis in the aged care sector has emerged over time. At least in part, systemic problems in organisations <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/%28SICI%291099-1735%28199603%2913%3A1%3C13%3A%3AAID-SRES66%3E3.0.CO%3B2-O" target="_blank">arise from interactions</a> among its key players. These interactions must be aligned to achieve its <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e33a/5f696b7af6c2eaa3fdbefe94dbf42234bebe.pdf" target="_blank">common goals</a>.
But the key players in the aged care system pursue divergent agendas. Regulators focus on process adherence, while staff struggle with their limited capacity to manage the complex needs of residents. Meanwhile, proprietors focus on economic viability.
The prevailing approach of dealing with the problem of a particular key player in isolation will not solve the problems of aged care as a whole.
Governance and accountability
Our research suggests the need for a major culture shift in the aged care system.
Around the world, governments are being urged to put less emphasis on <a href="http://johnbraithwaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Regulating-Aged-Care-Ritualis.pdf" target="_blank">process measurement</a> and more on <a href="http://www.iqg.com.br/uploads/biblioteca/the_strategy.pdf" target="_blank">outcome transparency</a>.
Peter Drucker, a well-known management consultant, educator and author, once said “management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things”.
Ticking the boxes of a protocol to demonstrate “regulatory compliance” – that is, doing things right – is no longer an option on its own. Residents and their families expect staff to be attentive to residents’ changing <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19674233" target="_blank">physical, emotional, social and cognitive needs</a>; that is, doing the right things.
These insights tell us the aged care system needs to be <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319646046" target="_blank">redesigned</a>.
What would this look like in practice?
Let’s consider two common aged care problems – falls and diabetes – whose management is significantly influenced by the chosen accountability framework. The differences between an outcomes-based approach (that is, adapting care to problems in their context) and a process-based approach (adhering to a protocol) are stark.
The first example: a resident has a fall. Rather than only assessing her for injuries and vital signs (as per protocol), staff would also assess potential reasons for the fall – for example, lack of mobility, pain, low blood pressure, or polypharmacy (taking multiple prescription medications at once) – and involve allied health professionals in preventive and rehabilitative care. This could include muscle strengthening exercises, gait and balance retraining, pain management and medication review. These are measures that could reduce the likelihood of the patient falling again, thereby improving her outcomes.
And let’s take a resident with normally stable diabetes, who one day records an elevated blood sugar reading. Rather than just giving him more insulin, staff would also assess potential underlying reasons for the elevated reading. These could include loss of appetite, an infection, or an episode of <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delirium/symptoms-causes/syc-20371386" target="_blank">delirium</a>.
The royal commission should do many things, but adding red tape isn’t one of them
Increasing frailty and/or significant memory decline are the main reasons for admission to an aged care facility. These people are particularly vulnerable as their health changes frequently and rapidly.
Being bogged down by <a href="http://johnbraithwaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Regulating-Aged-Care-Ritualis.pdf" target="_blank">regulatory ritualism</a> reduces the time staff have available to spend on residents’ physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs.
True accountability in aged care is achieved by demonstrating how the provided care has impacted a resident’s well-being. In that regard, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission should provide leadership and primarily act as an educator, helping facilities to become <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/163984/the-fifth-discipline-by-peter-m-senge/9780385517256/" target="_blank">learning organisations</a>. If an aged care facility fails to “learn and improve”, then sanctions and penalties become necessary.
More bureaucracy would only serve to perpetuate the current crisis, and would fail those residents and families who have suffered from <a href="https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au" target="_blank">the current failings in the sector</a>.
Len Gainsford, a former adjunct research fellow in accounting &amp; governance at Swinburne University of Technology, contributed to this article.

<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121561/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">

Joachim Sturmberg, Conjoint Associate Professor of General Practice, University of Newcastle.
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/red-tape-in-aged-care-shouldnt-force-staff-to-prioritise-ticking-boxes-over-residents-outcomes-121561" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

Red tape in aged care shouldn’t force staff to prioritise ticking boxes over residents’ outcomes

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
Recycling in Australia used to be fairly simple. Our older readers may remember bottle drives, paper and cardboard collections, and the trip to the scrap metal merchant to sell metals.
This is called, in recycling parlance, sorting the “streams”. It creates very clean recycling that requires little sorting at a plant.
But recycling got more complicated. As councils organised kerbside collection, it made less economic sense to sort at the kerb. Instead, trucks collected mixed recycling and took it to centralised sorting facilities.
The materials also changed, with glass often replaced by plastics. Plastics like the PET in drink bottles and HDPE in milk bottles were easy to separate and had a ready recycling market.
Then, when developing countries like China opened the floodgates to paper and plastics, there was no need to separate the seven categories of plastics. It was cheaper and easier for Australian companies to bundle it all up and send it to China for “recycling” – in 2017, some <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-10/china-ban-on-foreign-rubbish-leaves-recycling-industry-in-a-mess/9243184" target="_blank">600,000 tonnes</a>.
When China found they were the world’s dumping ground they <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-to-our-plastic-recycling-when-it-goes-offshore-110356" target="_blank">shut the door</a> and demanded only clean, separated plastics – and then only the ones that had a secondary market in China.
Suddenly Australia was expected to separate more carefully – and this cost money. Now the federal government has pledged <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australias-recycling-industry-is-getting-a-20-million-boost-but-at-least-one-environmental-group-says-the-government-is-all-talk-2019-8" target="_blank">A$20 million to boost Australia’s recycling industry</a>.
But what is Australia’s recycling industry?
Right now, there are 193 material recovery facilities in Australia. Most are hand-sorted; nine are semi-automated, and nine are fully automated. These are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-recycling-crisis-in-australia-easy-solutions-to-a-hard-problem-95231" target="_blank">nowhere near sufficient</a> to sort Australia’s annual recycling.
There are two basic ways to sort recycling: mechanical-biological treatment plants, which sort mixed waste into low-grade recycling, and material recovery facilities, which have a stronger focus on extracting reusable stuff.
Here’s how they work.
Mechanical-biological treatment
MBT plants are in various stages of development in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. These plants take the rubbish we generate every day and inject it into a rotary drum (a bioreactor) that spins and is heated to 60–70℃.
The process shreds the waste and the organic wastes are stabilised and homogenised. Most of the water evaporates through a fermentation process in which microorganisms break down the organic material and release heat – much like a composting system.
The material then leaves the reactor and passes over a screen that separates the organic waste. The organic waste then fermented and composted, then separated again using a smaller mesh screen. The smallest particles are sent back to the bioreactor drum to provide the microorganisms.
Meanwhile, the larger material from the first screening is sent to a wind separator where the lightweight material, like plastics, are blown the furthest, medium-weight materials, such as textiles, fall in the middle and the heaviest, like metal, glass and stone, fall immediately. The heaviest fraction is sent along a conveyor and metals are separated by a magnetic separator.
The remaining material is sent to another wind separator, along with any remaining material from the other fractions that cannot be separated, which separates combustibles and debris.
The debris (about 10% of the original waste) goes to landfill, and combustibles are sent to a facility that compresses the material into blocks for industrial fuel.
Material recovery facilities
Material recovery facilities accept mixed recycling. The first step is putting recyclables on a conveyor belt where they are carried up to a sorting line.
In the more mechanical processes, people line up along the belt and rip open bags and remove contaminants such as non-recyclable plastic, used nappies and other rubbish, which then goes to landfill.
In the more automated systems, ripping open the bags can be done by machines and the sorting is done in the next stage.
The material then goes onto a scalping screen that sorts out the small foreign objects before passing over a screen in which flat materials such as cardboard pass over and the others drop down. The paper and cardboard go off to storage. Meanwhile, the material that has dropped through hits another screen that breaks any glass, which drops through the screen and is taken by conveyor belt to a recovery bin.
The leftover material goes to fibre quality-control stations where the fibre materials (such as paper) pass by operators who pick off any contaminants before the paper goes into another bin for baling and recycling.
This leaves the cans and plastic containers. Passing this stream over a magnet means any steel cans will be removed from the stream and collected.
Next, any fibre that has made it through the process is removed manually and the plastics are then sorted manually into individual types. The bottles are perforated mechanically so they do not explode when compressed.
With the plastic containers removed, the next step is to divert the aluminium. Powerful magnetic fields created by an eddy current separator throws non-iron metals, like aluminium, forward from the belt into a product bin and non-metals fall off the belt into a separate bin. Finally most of the materials are compressed and baled for efficient transport.
Automated sorting systems
The nine more modern facilities in Australia use optical sorting systems to take out the manual and mechanical sorting. The optical sorters detect anywhere between three and eight varieties of material.
A new facility in New South Wales can detect eight different types of material: aluminium, cardboard, glass, <a href="http://www.pbpackaging.com.au/artGlossary.aspx" target="_blank">HDPE plastic</a>, mixed paper, newspaper, <a href="http://www.pbpackaging.com.au/artGlossary.aspx" target="_blank">PET plastic</a>, and steel. The combined stream passes through a light beam which then instructs a set of high pressure air jets to direct the material to one of eight collection bins.
As worldwide demand for high quality, clean recycling material increases, Australia must upgrade its technology. Incentives and financial help for recycling companies may be necessary to see Australia develop a viable domestic recycling industry.

<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121120/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">

Jeff Seadon, Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology.
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/how-recycling-is-actually-sorted-and-why-australia-is-quite-bad-at-it-121120" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

How recycling is actually sorted, and why Australia is quite bad at it

<html><body>
The NAB has advised its mortgage delinquencies are on the rise.
<div class="page" title="Page 2">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
The ratio of 90+ days past due and gross impaired assets to gross loans and acceptances increased from 0.79% to 0.85%, largely due to rising Australian mortgage delinquencies, it advised today.
The bank said asset quality overall remained broadly sound.
<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/2019/8/14/NAB%20arrears%20rise.jpg" alt="">
The acting chief Philip Chronican released its third quarter trading update this morning, reporting unaudited statutory net profits of A$1.70bn, and A$1.65bn in unaudited cash earnings – a 1% increase year-over-year.
Revenue also increased, as NAB continues to see robust growth in (SME) small business lending.
But Chronican noted there was a "backdrop of a challenging operating environment, including subdued home lending growth.
He advised the bank's 3Q19 performance compared with the 1H19 quarterly average was "solid," with revenue increasing and costs flat.
<div title="Page 1">
<div>
<div>
<div>
Its seen a 27% reduction in over-the-counter transactions and an 18% reduction in call centre volumes.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body></html>

NAB mortgage delinquencies on the rise

<html><body>
A Kallangur, Queensland house has sold under the mortgagee auction hammer for $325,000.
The vendors made a loss of $37,250 three years on from when they purchased the home in 2016.
Liam Booker of LJ Hooker marketed the property.
Situated at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-qld-kallangur-131548042" target="_blank">211 Duffield Road</a>, the abode is comprised of two storeys with three bedrooms and two bathroom within.
Set on 645 sqm, the house features a large rear deck, drive through carport, double bay lockup shed and a garden shed. 
The property was originally listed for $376,500+ in January 2019 and was unsuccessful during an auction at the end of January.
Last sold in 2016, the home transacted for $362,250.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/subscribe" target="_blank"><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/2019/1/Subscriber%20strip%20ad.jpg" alt=""></a>
The median sale price for a unit in <a href="/developments/kallangur-qld-4503">Kallangur</a> is $397,000, according to CoreLogic data.
</body></html>

Kallangur, Queensland mortgagee home sold for $40,000 loss

<html><body>
There was a strong weekend result at Yarraville where a former hessian bag factory remodelled by architect Angela Banks fetched $1,315,000.
It sold at $115,000 above reserve with competition from three bidders.
<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/2019/8/30/yarraville%202%201.jpg" alt="">
The buyer of the <a href="http://www.jasstephens.com.au/28_TARRENGOWER_STREET_YARRAVILLE_VIC_3013_SOLD" target="_blank">28 Tarrengower Street offering</a> had been looking since early this year.
The 1880s property last sold at $290,000 in 2004 had a $1.12 million to $1.19 million price guidance through the Jas Stephens agency.
<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/2019/8/30/yarraville%203%201.jpg" alt="">
</body></html>

Former hessian bag factory in Yarraville sells for $1,315,000

<html><body>
The apartment at 1/247 Oberon Street, Coogee sold at recent auction for $1,421,000.
It was $321,000 above reserve.
<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/2019/8/30/coogee%202%201.jpg" alt="">
The listing had 12,000 online views. 
Some 235 groups of buyers physically inspected the two bedroom apartment with 36 contracts issued. 
There were 13 buyers registered for auction.
<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/2019/8/30/coogee%203%201.jpg" alt="">
</body></html>

Coogee apartment sells for $1,421,000 at auction 

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
It was defoliants, seen above during Operation Ranch Hand in the Vietnam War, that prompted action to protect the environment during conflicts. (Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Photos/igphoto/2000445232/">National Museum of the US Air Force</a>)<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shireen-daft-450045"> </a>
An <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02248-6" target="_blank" title="Stop military conflicts from trashing environment">open letter</a> from 24 scientists published in Nature last month calls on governments to draft a new Geneva Convention dedicated to protecting the environment during armed conflict.
This inspired a <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/07/should-destroying-the-environment-be-a-war-crime/" target="_blank">number</a> of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jul/24/make-environmental-damage-a-war-say-scientists-geneva-convention" target="_blank">headlines</a> that <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/26/8931699/environment-war-crime-scientists-nature-geneva-convention" target="_blank">misleadingly</a> said the scientists want environmental destruction to be made a war crime.
But environmental destruction is already recognised as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. The existing legal framework governing armed conflict also provides some protections for the environment.
The problem is these protections are inadequate, inconsistent, unclear, and most military behaviour won’t fall foul of these laws.
The legal protections already in place
There are currently four <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions" target="_blank">Geneva Conventions and three Additional Protocols</a> that are supposed to regulate conduct during armed conflict, sometimes known as the rules of war.
The original four Geneva Conventions, which celebrate their <a href="https://www.redcross.org.au/stories/ihl-blog/gc70" target="_blank">70th anniversary</a> this year, contain no explicit mention of the natural environment.
The use of <a href="https://theconversation.com/agent-orange-exposed-how-u-s-chemical-warfare-in-vietnam-unleashed-a-slow-moving-disaster-84572" target="_blank">Agent Orange</a> (and Agents White and Blue) to defoliate huge spans of land during the Vietnam War led to the introduction of the first specific protections for the environment during armed conflict.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wUZA0GAMmfI?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe>
It’s shaky video to begin with but 18 seconds in you see US soldiers spraying Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Following the Vietnam War, two major developments in the law occurred.
The first was the adoption of the United Nation’s <a href="https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&amp;mtdsg_no=XXVI-1&amp;chapter=26&amp;clang=_en" target="_blank">Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques Convention</a> (ENMOD) that prohibits the hostile use of environment-altering techniques that have “widespread, long-lasting, or severe effects”.
The second was the inclusion of provisions in Additional Protocol I (API) that <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/ART/470-750044?OpenDocument" target="_blank">prohibits</a> methods or means intended or expected to cause “widespread, long term, and severe damage to the natural environment” during warfare.
Near impossibly high standards
Both treaties set a very high threshold for falling foul of the prohibitions. API requires that all three elements of damage — widespread, long term, and severe — must be met for military action to be in violation of this provision.
The consequence is that most military behaviour, even when damaging the environment, won’t be in violation of these laws.
Making it even more difficult, the meaning of the three terms differs between the two, and there is ongoing disagreement as to their definition.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287283/original/file-20190808-144851-ycqfs0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287283/original/file-20190808-144851-ycqfs0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
While an understanding was reached to determine the definitions in ENMOD, there is still dispute about the meaning of the terms in API. The definitions provided here are among the more commonly accepted. Shireen Daft, Author provided
The only environmental destruction in recent times that has been considered to meet such a high threshold was the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/19/iraq5" target="_blank">setting alight of Kuwaiti oil fields by Iraqi forces</a> as they withdrew during the 1991 Gulf War.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287291/original/file-20190808-144847-niiysk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287291/original/file-20190808-144847-niiysk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
A Kuwaiti oil well fire, south of Kuwait City, in March 1991. <a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuwaiti_Oil_Well_Fire.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia/EdJF</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY</a>
The <a href="https://uncc.ch/category-f" target="_blank">United Nations Compensation Commission</a> held Iraq liable for the environmental damage caused in Kuwait. But because Iraq was not a party to either ENMOD or API, the Commission applied a unique legal standard derived from <a href="https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IQ%20KW_910403_SCR687%281991%29_0.pdf" target="_blank">Security Council Resolution 687</a> and Iraq is still paying compensation to Kuwait to this day.
Neither ENMOD nor API specifies that a breach of these provisions constitutes a war crime. This came in 2002 when the <a href="http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm" target="_blank">Rome Statute</a> establishing the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/" target="_blank">International Criminal Court</a> came into force.
The Rome Statute says it is a war crime to intentionally cause “widespread, long-term, and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive” to the military advantage to be obtained.
The terms are not defined in the Rome Statute, and what is meant by “clearly excessive” is subjective, and introduces a test of proportionality.
Another Geneva Convention?
A new international agreement that balances the interests of environmental protection and respects the laws on armed conflict could be of enormous benefit.
The existing legal framework is only equipped to deal with direct attacks on the natural environment.
But this ignores the many other ways the environment is affected by conflict. Resources such as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/05/world/africa/conflict-diamonds-explainer/index" target="_blank">diamonds</a>, <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-conflict-mineral-coltan-mining-in-dr-congo-and-australia/" target="_blank">coltan</a>, <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/bloodtimber/" target="_blank">timber</a> and <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229692-700-ivory-poaching-funds-most-war-and-terrorism-in-africa/" target="_blank">ivory</a> are all used to help fund conflicts, and this can place enormous stress on the environment.
A particular gap is that no consideration is given in the existing framework to non-human species - to wildlife affected by war or to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/03/europe/beluga-whale-norway-scli-intl/index" target="_blank">animals used for military purposes</a>. Yet conflict has proved the <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/natural-environment-neglected-victim-armed-conflict" target="_blank">biggest predictor</a> of population declines in wild species.
But a new treaty that creates strong, effective, and enforceable protections requires significant political will.
An <a href="https://www.toxicremnantsofwar.info/whatever-happened-to-the-5th-geneva-convention/" target="_blank">attempt</a> was made two decades ago, headed by Greenpeace, but no agreement could be reached. That attempt was made during a time when international cooperation and treaty development was at its highest, following the end of the Cold War.
In the current political and social environment it seems unlikely any attempt for such an agreement would be successful. At best, we would see watered-down protections, no stronger than what is already in place. Thus drafting such a Convention now could do more harm than good, in the long run.
If not a new treaty, then what?
The International Law Commission (ILC) is <a href="http://legal.un.org/ilc/guide/8_7.shtml" target="_blank">about to release its report</a> dealing with the issue of protecting the environment during armed conflict. This was what inspired the Open Letter from the scientists in the first place.
The <a href="http://legal.un.org/docs/index.asp?symbol=A/CN.4/L.937" target="_blank">Draft Principles</a> it is producing are not new principles of law, but those already found in the existing legal framework. Unfortunately the work produced so far continues to use “widespread, long term, and severe” with no clarity as to what they mean.
But they do confirm that all the fundamental principles of the rules of war apply to the environment, and should be interpreted “with a view to its protection”. The environment should not be a target, and the impact on the environment must be taken into consideration in military operations.
The work of the ILC should inform governments of the interpretation of existing law. Governments should then give more attention to the environment in the operational guidelines used by their militaries.
The Australian <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/39374943" target="_blank">Law of Armed Conflict</a> manual, used by our defence forces, already acknowledges they have a duty to protect the natural environment. The next step is to move beyond this general principle to the specific, and have clear guidelines about what protecting the environment during armed conflict means, in practice.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is also currently updating its <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jn38.htm" target="_blank">guidelines</a> for all military manuals to ensure the environment is a consideration to be evaluated during all military operations.
While the world might not yet be ready to consider a new Geneva Convention relating to the environment, the survival of our natural environment does depend on changes being made to the way the war is conducted.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121180/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;">
Shireen Daft, Lecturer, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie 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/environmental-destruction-is-a-war-crime-but-its-almost-impossible-to-fall-foul-of-the-laws-121180" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

Environmental destruction is a war crime, but it’s almost impossible to fall foul of the laws: Shireen Daft

Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Joel Robinson

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Lanevick to cater for Hunters Hill downsizers with new Gladesville apartment development

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.

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]

Staff reporter

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News