TOD apartment pipeline ramps up: SP Setia, Traders In Purple, Third.i, plan new towers on booming Sydney Metro line
New apartment developers are scrambling to get involved with the NSW Government’s Accelerated Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Precinct Program, as off-the-plan buyers queue up to live above or next to the game-changing Sydney Metro line.
The extended Metro line, which connects Sydenham in Sydney’s Inner West all the way to Tallawong in the Hills District, allows commuters to travel from the city to the Lower North Shore in just a few minutes. The region has quickly become one of the most searched on Apartments.com.au, thanks to the fast and efficient transport link.
All new Metro developments are assessed through the NSW Government’s State Significant Development Application process rather than local councils. Each proposal first enters a scoping stage before full plans are released for public feedback.
Malaysian developer SP Setia is the latest to submit a Scoping Report to the NSW Government for its Atchison Street site in St Leonards.
The developer—best known in Australia for delivering Sapphire by The Gardens on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD—is seeking approval for a 40-level tower, comprising 36 levels of residential apartments above a four-level commercial podium.
In comments made to City & Country (The Edge Malaysia) in 2023, SP Setia President and CEO Datuk Choong Kai Wai described the acquisition as “a strategic move” aligned with the group’s post-pandemic market recovery strategy.
“Our target for this exceptional development is local and overseas buyers, including first-home buyers, downsizers and investors,” Choong said.
Developer Third.i saw huge success with the release of Elevate apartments at Hume Place, one of the first TOD projects launched to market late last year. They have now pivoted their next tower—originally planned as an office building—into a build-to-rent apartment project.
National developer Traders In Purple has also submitted early plans for a TOD project in Wollstonecraft, close enough to the Crows Nest Metro to fall within the newly rezoned TOD precinct.
Their plans propose something more boutique: a 12-level development more in line with their ethos and better suited to the suburb’s scale and character.
Meanwhile, a TOD project above the Metro in Parramatta has just been approved. The plans include four towers—a mix of residential and commercial—with around 111 apartments as part of the scheme.
Read more: Parramatta Metro TOD approved, apartments planned as part of scheme
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is the Editor in Chief at Apartments.com.au, where he leads the editorial team and oversees the country’s most comprehensive news coverage dedicated to the off the plan property market. With more than a decade of experience in residential real estate journalism, Joel brings deep insight into Australia’s evolving development landscape.
He holds a degree in Business Management with a major in Journalism from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, and has developed a particular expertise in off the plan apartment space. Joel’s editorial lens spans the full lifecycle of a project—from site acquisition and planning approvals through to new launches, construction completions, and final sell-out—delivering trusted, buyer-focused content that supports informed decision-making across the property journey
