Podia approaches completion of Wirra Neutral Bay apartment development

With completion now just weeks away, Podia and Centennial are seeing a late surge of downsizer interest at Wirra in Neutral Bay, particularly from homeowners across Sydney’s Lower North Shore looking to capitalise on the traditionally stronger spring and summer selling season.

Castlecrag and Northbridge are among the suburbs regularly appearing in enquiry, with buyers considering the opportunity to sell long-held family homes and move into a new apartment without leaving the Lower North Shore.

It is a buyer profile Wirra has attracted since launching, highlighted by the $13 million sale of its penthouse to a local downsizing couple around two years ago. The 200 sqm residence set a new Neutral Bay off-the-plan apartment record at the time.

The purchasers had not initially been looking in Neutral Bay, but were ultimately drawn to the scale of the apartment, its harbour outlook and the ability to remain close to the amenity and lifestyle they were accustomed to on the Lower North Shore.

Now, just a handful of apartments remain in the 20-residence development at 96-98 Ben Boyd Road, with construction by regarded builder ULTRA in its final stages ahead of completion next month.

Wirra has already become an immediately recognisable addition to Neutral Bay.

Occupying the prominent corner of Ben Boyd Road and Premier Street, the building has been designed as something of a landmark for those travelling through the suburb, with its curved façade and sandstone exterior creating a distinctive presence on one of Neutral Bay’s key thoroughfares.

MHNDU led the architecture, taking cues from the curves and forms of Sydney Harbour and deliberately shaping the building around its outlook toward the city, Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

“We looked to the curves of the bay, Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, creating architecture that gestures, pivots and speaks to the views,” MHNDU architect Brian Meyerson said.

The building’s sweeping curves are softened by extensive landscaping and natural sandstone, creating an architectural identity that feels distinctly Sydney while giving Wirra a strong street presence from both Ben Boyd Road and Premier Street.

That focus on scale and permanence continues inside the building.

Wirra is exclusively three-bedroom, ranging from garden residences through to the already-sold penthouses, deliberately targeting buyers moving from substantial homes rather than buyers looking for a traditional apartment product.

Generous living and dining areas flow to wraparound terraces, while Richards Stanisich has used stone, timber and travertine throughout the interiors to create a more residential feel.

Kitchens feature slab stone benchtops, bespoke timber and textured-glass cabinetry and separate sculleries, another inclusion designed to make the transition from a family home to apartment living easier for downsizers.

Richards Stanisich interior architect Jonathan Richards said the material palette was selected to complement the building’s harbour setting.

“We sought to create a calm sanctuary where the play of light, reflection and texture sits naturally alongside Wirra’s phenomenal harbour and cityscapes,” Richards said.

The final release comes as a growing number of Lower North Shore homeowners consider making that transition.

For many, the equation is increasingly compelling. Long-held family homes across Castlecrag, Northbridge and surrounding suburbs are entering a traditionally active spring and summer market, while Wirra gives those sellers the opportunity to secure a newly completed residence nearby without materially changing where they shop, dine or spend their time.

Podia will be slowly releasing the final apartments over spring and summer, with auctions soon to be scheduled once construction has been fully completed and buyers can move in.