Inside Abadeen’s defining 2026: Six completions and a $6.2 billion national pipeline

There is no shortage of ambitious development pipelines across Australia. Billions of dollars in proposed projects, hundreds of future homes and new acquisitions are regularly used as measures of a developer’s growth.

But ultimately, a developer is defined by what it completes.

That distinction has become particularly important over the past four years, as escalating construction costs, labour shortages, disrupted supply chains and higher interest rates have made getting an apartment project from acquisition through to settlement considerably more difficult.

It makes 2026 arguably one of Abadeen’s most successful years in its 26-year history.

The now national developer, which has been an ever-present across Sydney’s Lower North Shore since it was founded by industry stalwart Justin Brown in 2000, will complete six new projects nationally in 2026, delivering around 219 new residences across Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Those completions sit within a $6.2 billion development pipeline that now extends across Australia, supported by long-term institutional investment partnerships and relationships with some of the country’s largest banks.

Abadeen Founder and Executive Chairman Justin Brown said 2026 represented the culmination of several years of planning, acquisitions and development.

“We’ve been in the business of creating residences for over a quarter of a century, and this year really demonstrates the depth of what we’ve been building towards.

“Delivery has always been incredibly important to us. It is one thing to acquire sites and talk about a pipeline, but ultimately our buyers judge us on the homes we create and the projects we complete.”

At the helm remains Brown, one of the residential development sector’s most experienced operators, but the business around him has evolved significantly. As Abadeen has expanded geographically and into new forms of housing, it has assembled a senior leadership team with deep experience across development, acquisitions, finance, sales and marketing.

That depth of experience has become increasingly important as Abadeen has grown beyond its Lower North Shore foundations into a national residential developer. The expansion has retained the disciplined approach to site selection, design and delivery that has underpinned the business for more than two decades, supported by Abadeen’s relationships with major Australian banks.

The momentum was evident in 2025, with the completion of two Koichi Takada-designed projects: KOYO, Abadeen’s 27-residence development in Crows Nest, followed by ENSO Neutral Bay, a further nine residences on Grosvenor Street, at the end of the year. Beyond the Lower North Shore, Abadeen completed Malea in Victoria and HQ78, a commercial precinct in Alexandria, demonstrating the growing geographic reach and diversity of the business.

Delivery accelerated in 2026. At the start of the year, Abadeen welcomed buyers to Seychelles, its high-end Brighton-Le-Sands development and one of the first large-scale new residential projects delivered in the bayside suburb for decades, comprising a collection of apartments and heritage terraces. Seychelles went on to win the 2026 UDIA NSW Award for Excellence in Apartments (High Rise).

Two further Lower North Shore projects have since been completed: Park Residences, an intimate collection of just 11 residences in Cremorne, and Northcote Collective, a 58-residence development in Naremburn.

The projects have produced significant sales results.

Following the completion of KOYO, Abadeen sold the penthouse for $6.75 million to a local downsizer, reflecting the strong owner-occupier and downsizer market that has long underpinned much of the developer’s Lower North Shore portfolio. A similarly strong result followed at Park Residences, where a three-bedroom mid-floor residence sold for $6.35 million.

Among the 2026 completions, Northcote Collective represents a broader evolution of Abadeen’s traditional Lower North Shore offering, creating a more attainable entry point into one of Sydney’s most tightly held markets.

Comprising 58 residences, Northcote Collective appeals to a broad spectrum of buyers, with a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, including one-bedroom residences with parking, attracting first-home buyers and professionals through to downsizers and owner-occupiers seeking a Lower North Shore address close to the Sydney CBD.

Before the year is out, Abadeen will complete another two Lower North Shore projects, alongside Villea, its mixed-use development in Palm Beach on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The Villas will deliver 17 apartments on Premier Street in Neutral Bay, while Mosman Residences will add another 28 apartments on Clifford Street.

On the Gold Coast, Villea will deliver a collection of 69 residences alongside ground-floor retail, further extending Abadeen’s national footprint.

While 2026 will go down as one of Abadeen’s biggest years of delivery, it is shaping up as an equally significant year for planning and acquisition, as the developer doubles down on a residential market transitioning through another cycle.

Its $6.2 billion development pipeline comprises 19 projects across Australia’s eastern seaboard, including 14 projects with a combined pipeline value of $2.03 billion being undertaken in partnership with Phoenix Property Investors.

The acquisitions made in 2026 have been deliberately diverse in both location and scale, spanning Woollahra, Bexley, Narrabeen, Mosman, Neutral Bay and Dee Why in Sydney, Hawthorn in Victoria and North Ellenbrook in Western Australia, with future projects ranging from boutique developments of around 10 residences to larger-scale residential communities.

Supporting that expansion is a deeper and more experienced team than at any point in Abadeen’s history, giving the developer the capability to pursue larger and more diverse opportunities without moving away from the high-end boutique residential projects on which it built its reputation.

Increasingly, however, the pipeline extends beyond the boutique Lower North Shore apartment developments traditionally associated with Abadeen.

Expansion into masterplanned communities and house and land is underway, with projects including RIVA Calderwood in the Illawarra, being delivered in partnership with Mitsubishi Estate Asia, a future house and land community in Bexley and a major 3,000-lot community on the fringe of Perth.

RIVA has recorded strong early sales despite challenging market conditions, with demand from first-home buyers and families demonstrating the depth of the market for well-located, attainable housing.

Mitsubishi Estate Asia is also Abadeen’s partner on Putney Wharf Residences in Sydney, reflecting Abadeen’s growing relationships with major institutional capital partners as the business expands across different residential sectors and housing types.

The geography has expanded, the scale of the projects has grown and the types of housing Abadeen is pursuing are becoming increasingly diverse. The team and capability behind the business have grown with them. Yet 2026 provides perhaps the clearest indication of the strategy underpinning it all.

Abadeen can now operate across both ends of the residential market, from premium apartments in some of Australia’s most tightly held suburbs to more attainable housing, house and land and large-scale masterplanned communities.

In a market where development pipelines can stretch years into the future and proposed projects do not always become completed ones, Abadeen has spent the year doing both: delivering the pipeline it already had, while assembling the next one.

With six projects completing nationally in a single year, a growing Melbourne presence and thousands of future homes spanning apartments, land and masterplanned communities, 2026 marks a significant evolution for Abadeen, from its Lower North Shore foundations to an increasingly diverse national residential development business.