Joel Robinson

Sydney's top 15 new apartments developments set to launch in 2026

Developer-builder <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/dasco-australia">DASCO</a> has pushed beyond the now-standard inclusions of rooftop pools and landscaped podiums at its recently launched new Epping project, Senso.

It has laid out over 4,000 sqm of resident-only amenity in a move designed to compete directly with low-density housing on livability, not just density. The result is a development that supports genuine daily use through purposeful spaces distributed across its five-building, 479-apartment precinct.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134954 project_image_fid=4396]

Two rooftop pools form the anchor of Senso. One is a 27-metre lap pool adjoining a heated spa, designed for everyday fitness rather than just summer leisure. The second sits on a lower podium, allowing different buildings to share in vertical access and reducing crowding during peak times.

It is the secondary spaces that start to distinguish Senso from other large-scale suburban projects. A rooftop cinema is integrated into a landscaped terrace, offering open-air screenings with natural ventilation and passive cooling.&nbsp;

The inclusion of a “sensory walk”, an elevated boardwalk that threads through the site, suggests a rare investment in non-commercial, non-essential amenity: space for quiet movement that doesn’t double as access or traffic circulation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134954 project_image_fid=4402]

The gym and wellness centre, often relegated to a small ground-floor room in many builds, takes on more substance here. Residents have access to a fully equipped gym, as well as outdoor yoga areas and meditative zones that integrate greenery and natural light.&nbsp;

The Club Lounge is similarly designed to support multiple use cases, with a private dining terrace, kitchenette, workspace, and lockable wine storage. These aren’t superficial additions; their scale and spatial allocation indicate serious intent for frequent resident use.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134954 project_image_fid=4391]

Importantly, Senso’s amenities are embedded within a site that spans more than 10,000 sqm, allowing for better separation between spaces and reduced noise spillover, a critical but often overlooked factor in high-density developments. This spatial generosity also enables multiple alfresco kitchens and communal terraces without compromising individual privacy or usable space.

While many developments make claims about lifestyle, few back it with this level of built infrastructure. Senso’s mix of dedicated fitness, wellness, social and passive green spaces suggests a conscious response to the post-pandemic shift in housing expectations, especially among owner-occupiers.&nbsp;

DASCO is one of several leading developers who have taken out Resilience Insurance's Latent Defects Insurance policy, providing buyers with a 10-year structural and waterproofing warranty, and giving them the ultimate peace of mind.

Senso is scheduled for completion in late 2028.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134954]

Staff Writer

The outdoor amenities elevating life at Senso, Epping

Following the proposal by the Minns Labor Government to rezone Parramatta Road to create up to 8,000 new homes, prominent developer Ceerose has gone to the NSW Gov to increase the density of its new mixed-use residential building in Leichhardt.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/ceerose">Ceerose</a>, founded by Edward Doueihi nearly three decades ago, has filed plans for 154 apartments above ground-floor retail at 307-315 Parramatta Road, a key corner site near Norton Street, the main high street strip in Leichhardt.

It's an upsize from the previously approved scheme of 63 apartments across a seven-storey building.

<img alt="Ceerose" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ba1ae75b-5f08-43fb-b8d5-3de6d9f6ef71" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-04%20at%2010.31.39%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=yA3hBBLPH4ev7MsAE0_hieXeqiFqBUb7" />

The project is being advanced through the State Significant Development (SSD) pathway, with concurrent rezoning sought to facilitate the proposal. The 10-storey development would rise over a four-level basement and deliver two retail tenancies, one a larger-format offering and the other a smaller “hole in the wall” space, addressing the Parramatta Road frontage. 21 of the apartments are dedicated as affordable housing.

According to the Urban Design Report by Architecture AND, the scheme includes a podium and tower configuration, with a fine-grain, two-storey parapet street wall that references the traditional shopfront rhythm along the corridor. “An elegant tower form is proposed, combined with a characterful two storey frontage... articulating it as two related buildings, providing consistency with the rhythm and grain of Parramatta Road,” the report notes.

The residential component is split across two slender towers set back from the street edge, a design move aimed at preserving solar access and reducing perceived bulk. This massing strategy also seeks to improve residential amenity by focusing scale toward the quieter northern interface, away from Parramatta Road’s noise and pollution.

<img alt="Ceerose" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="347f2f8f-5d36-4388-b40a-2e77380b9c19" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-04%20at%2010.31.02%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=xvyUE2ujT1lzivXTo.mHBJFF4SmfgLtz" />

Architecture AND has worked with Ceerose on previous Inner West projects, and cites a deep familiarity with the local character. Their design draws heavily on context, heritage, and sunlight access considerations, and engages with the Inner West Council’s “Our Fairer Future” strategic planning framework.

The site spans 2,712 sqm and is located near key intersections with Catherine Street, Hay Street, and Redmond Street. It adjoins a public carpark to the north and is within walking distance of Stanmore and Petersham stations. It is also flagged in state and local planning strategies, including the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy, as a suitable candidate for increased density.

Ceerose recently completed The Alex Collective on McEvoy Street in Alexandria, Abbie's Lane in Annandale, and the award-winning Munro House in Elizabeth Bay.

The Parramatta Road corridor is coming to life with the proposed rezoning which is serviced by a significant number of bus, light rail and train routes.

Deicorp is progressing with its $1.8 billion <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kings-bay-village-five-dock-53-75-queens-road-five-dock-nsw-2046">Kings Bay Village</a> precinct on Parramatta Road in Five Dock, as is <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/toga-to-push-on-with-five-dock-mixed-use-masterplan">TOGA further down the street</a>. Those two projects alone will bring nearly 2,000 new homes to Parramatta Road.

First look: Ceerose plots mixed-use Leichhardt development on Parramatta Road

North Sydney's landmark 'SBS Building' on Alfred Street is set to be demolished to make way for a new mixed-use residential tower in the booming North Sydney.

Commercial property group FiveX is behind the plans for a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/275-alfred-street-north-north-sydney-nsw-2060">39-storey tower</a>, the latest project to advance under the NSW Government’s Housing Delivery Authority pathway.

They are proposing 184 apartments above retail spaces, which will replace the existing 20-storey commercial building. FiveX was set up more than five decades ago by Joshua and Marko Berger. It is currently led by Joshua's son Lesli.&nbsp;

<img alt="First look: Fivex plans 39-storey residential tower at 275 Alfred Street, North Sydney" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2efa0980-53fa-4cca-9f9e-9c3c845d4746" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Article%20Feature%20Image%20%28Grid%29%20%281%29_0.png?VersionId=y_YyPMq3NQLfYRs84pP4os9UgWiMLp75" />

According to the Architectural Design Report by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/fjc-studio">FJC Studio</a>, the slender tower form has been deliberately designed to respect the site's transitional setting at the southern gateway to the North Sydney CBD, where high-rise towers give way to lower-scale residential precincts.

"The slender tower form and articulated podium establish a respectful relationship with nearby heritage and low rise buildings, including the Whaling Road Heritage Conservation Area,” the architecture firm noted, adding that the tower “completes a missing link in the urban fabric” while enhancing the Alfred Street streetscape.

The proposed building will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with 15 percent of the gross residential floor area allocated as affordable housing. There is an agreement already in place that those apartments will be managed by Evolve Housing.

The project aligns with broader state housing objectives, including the National Housing Accord target of delivering 1.2 million new homes by 2029. The Scoping Report filed with the State Significant Development Application (SSDA) suggests the site "presents no impediments to rapid delivery,” with construction able to commence within 12 months of receiving consent.

North Sydney has been one of the most popular suburbs in Sydney for new and off the plan apartment development, but hasn't had the supply to keep up with demand, until recently.

AURA by Aqualand was, for a long time, the only off the plan apartment building on the market. That completed last year, and has sold the majority of its 386 luxury apartments. Recently ALAND launched <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-walden-173-179-walker-street-north-sydney-nsw-2060">The Walden</a> on the same street, selling over $100 million within just a few hours of its launch, while developer CASA also launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-mclaren-north-sydney-45-mclaren-street-north-sydney-nsw-2060">The McLaren</a>&nbsp;in the same precinct.

First look: Fivex plans 39-storey residential tower in booming North Sydney

Kokoda Property Group has announced the Sydney-based Versatile Construction as the builder for its landmark $1.5 billion <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a> precinct.

Construction of the 17,612 sqm site is scheduled to commence in December 2025 and is expected to be delivered in stages from 2028. Once complete, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a> will comprise 212 residences across four architecturally distinct buildings, alongside Brisbane’s first Kimpton Hotel, extensive retail, hospitality, and wellness amenities.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=139896 project_image_fid=295098]

Kokoda Property Group Founder and Managing Director, Mark Stevens, said appointing Versatile Construction marks a significant milestone for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a>.

“Partnering with Versatile Construction gives us confidence in delivering a precinct that sets a new benchmark for luxury living, curated experiences and vibrant riverfront activation," Stevens said.

"Together, we will bring the vision for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a> to life, creating a destination that residents and visitors will enjoy for generations."

Throughout the construction phase, more than 2,000 jobs will be created, supporting hundreds of local contractors and suppliers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=139896 project_image_fid=352274]

Marco Fahd, Chairman &amp; CEO at Versatile Group, said the company is looking forward to&nbsp;expanding their footprint in the state, taking on their inaugural project in Brisbane.

"We are proud of the unwavering commitment our team of experts have to quality and certainty in delivery and are excited to work with Kokoda to bring their vision for this unique project to life," Fahd says.

Sales reached $285 million on the launch of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a>, with sales momentum continuing to "exceed all expectations."

Stevens says the overwhelming response from buyers validated the group’s vision for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/teneriffe-banks-17-27-skyring-terrace-teneriffe-qld-4005">Teneriffe Banks</a>.

“The demand for a luxury product in this enclave has been extraordinary, we’ve never seen anything like it before. It reinforces everything we’re doing around quality, design, and creating genuine lifestyle precincts. Buyers are recognising the enduring value of Brisbane’s riverfront and are responding to the opportunity to live within a world-class destination that celebrates both place and lifestyle.”

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=139896]

Kokoda appoints builder for $1.5 billion Teneriffe Banks waterfront precinct

Employees

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GUEST OBSERVATION
A key question for the government’s retirement incomes <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/review/retirement-income-review" target="_blank">review</a> is who ultimately pays for compulsory super contributions, especially since they are set to climb from 9.5% of wages to 12% over the next five years.
Legally, they come from employers, on top of wages. But employers’ contributions have to come from somewhere. Compulsory super was introduced in 1992 with the <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-10/afts_retirement_incomes_consultation_paper.pdf">intention</a> they would come out of funds that would otherwise have been paid out as wage increases.
Modelling by the <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-09/foi_2534_document_set_for_release_re.pdf" target="_blank">Treasury</a>, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/money-in-retirement/" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2016/08/32-3-potter-michael.pdf" target="_blank">private sector</a> has long assumed that is what has happened.
But until now there has been scant empirical evidence about who actually pays, and against the backdrop of chronic low wage growth and the imminent increases, the conventional wisdom has come <a href="https://www.futurework.org.au/abandoning_super_increases_won_t_boost_wages" target="_blank">under attack</a>.
Today’s new Grattan Institute study, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/no-free-lunch/" target="_blank">No free lunch: higher superannuation means lower wages</a> fills the gap.
In an Australian first, it examines detailed data on 80,000 enterprise bargaining agreements over the three decades of compulsory super and concludes that, on average, 80% of each increase in compulsory super has been taken from what would otherwise have been wage increases.
Increases super comes from wages
In theory, super contributions could come from three sources:
<ul>
<li>
workers, through lower wage growth
</li>
<li>
consumers, through higher prices
</li>
<li>
investors, through lower profits.
</li>
</ul>
International <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3435377" target="_blank">studies</a> of similar schemes find that most, if not all, of the cost is borne by workers through lower wage growth.
Our study examined administrative microdata on 80,000 enterprise bargaining agreements filed between 1991 and 2018 sourced from the <a href="/news">Workplace Agreements Database</a> maintained by the attorney general’s department.
We compared agreements whose terms spanned leglislated increases in compulsory super with those that did not.
Then we estimated what the wage rise in each agreement ought to have been based on detailed information about the agreement, the employer’s industry, and economic conditions at the time it was negotiated.
We were able to see whether there was a systematic difference in wage rises between the agreements that spanned step-up increases in compulsory super and those that did not.
On average 80% of the cost of increased compulsory super contributions was passed on to workers through lower wage rises than would have been expected over the life of those agreements. The long-term impact is likely to have been higher.
The graph shows the overall finding using data from 1992 to 2018 and also the results from subsets of the including the private or public sectors, big and small firms and the period since 1997.
In each case somewhere between most and all of the cost of super increases was passed through to workers in the form of lower wage increases.
<hr>
On average, 80% of super increases were at the expense of wages
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313024/original/file-20200131-41495-1ahpb28.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/313024/original/file-20200131-41495-1ahpb28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Notes: see report. Source: No free lunch Higher superannuation means lower wages, Grattan Institute, February 2020
It isn’t only enterprise agreements
Our study looked only at workers on federally-registered enterprise bargaining agreements, around <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/industrial-relations/industrial-relations-publications/Documents/trends-report-june-quarter-2019.pdf" target="_blank">30%</a> of the workforce. Other workers are also likely to bear the cost of higher super through lower wages.
The Fair Work Commission – the body which sets award wages – has made the link between super increases and award wages <a href="https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/sites/wagereview2013/decisions/2013fwcfb4000_statement.pdf" target="_blank">explicit</a>, saying that when super goes up, award wages grow more slowly than they otherwise would.
State enterprise agreements are unlikely to differ much from federal agreements, and workers covered by one-on-one arrangements are likely to experience similar trade-offs.
Future super increases are unlikely to be different
It is unlikely the leglislated future step ups in compulsory super contributions will be different from the earlier ones.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265468/original/file-20190324-36267-olwp2z.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/265468/original/file-20190324-36267-olwp2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
<a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/rates/key-superannuation-rates-and-thresholds/?anchor=Superguaranteepercentage" target="_blank">Source: Australian Tax Office</a>
Although wage growth is slower now than in the past, wages are nevertheless – by all measures – growing by more than 2% a year, offering ample room for employers to wind back wage increases in order to fund each of the five scheduled annual step ups of 0.5% in compulsory super contributions that begin on July 1, 2021.
In fact, if workers’ bargaining power has fallen recently - <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/lack-of-competition-between-employers-contributes-to-weaker-wages-20180902-p50197" target="_blank">as some suggest</a> - employers might feel they can push even more of the cost of higher super onto workers than in the past.
Our analysis shows previous increases in compulsory super came mainly from wages: they took money that would have been handed to workers as wage increases and handed it to fund managers to hold and invest until those workers retired.
The next set of legislated increases are likely to do the same.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130797/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-coates-154644" target="_blank">Brendan Coates</a>, Program Director, Household Finances, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-cowgill-729072" target="_blank">Matthew Cowgill</a>, Senior Associate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/will-mackey-604500" target="_blank">Will Mackey</a>, Associate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>
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/think-superannuation-comes-from-employers-pockets-it-comes-from-yours-130797" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Superannuation comes from your pockets, not your employers

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/77104/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
The purpose of the “agile” working style is to help businesses adapt to turbulent markets by adopting a fast and flexible approach to work.
In one sense, it should come as no surprise that ANZ’s chief executive Shayne Elliot recently announced that ANZ will be shifting parts of its workforce to this style.
With the bank’s recent withdrawal from Asia and subsequent lower than expected revenues, this is part of ANZ refocus on its core business. In fact, each of Australia’s big four banks might be looking to become more efficient and responsive in the face of a tightly regulated market and slowly building retail banking competition from newer financial technology companies.
In another sense though, it’s surprising that one of Australia’s largest banks should signal such a profound change in work style. Finance is certainly not where agile got its start.
The origins of agile
The forerunners of agile stretch back as far as the Plan-Do-Study-Act method developed by Walter Shewart at Bell Labs in the 1930s and the Toyota Production System, based, in part, on the quality and systems thinking of Shewart’s student, William Edwards Deming.
However, agile as we understand it today is seen as emerging from software programming communities. It crystallised when 17 software developers gathered at the Snowbird ski resort in Utah in 2001 to share and refine their approaches to software development.
One of the participants had been reading a book on major companies coping with turbulent markets, called Agile Competitors and Virtual Organizations: Strategies for Enriching the Customer. Drawn to the agile’s connotations of speed and responsiveness, the group eventually adopted it as the moniker for their movement.
They published their views in The Manifesto for Agile Software Development, intending to help accelerate developers’ efforts to reliably produce software of the highest quality. Agile has since spread beyond the confines of IT to the other types of work and other organisations.
How to work in an agile style
As academics Rigby, Sutherland, and Takeuchi explain, agile now covers a broad range of methods, each varying according to their guiding principles and work rules. The three most well-known methods are scrum, lean, and kanban.
Scrum focuses on structuring teams to work across functions in a business, using creative and adaptive teamwork, daily stand-up meetings, and project reviews to quickly invent solutions and improve team performance.
Lean focuses on eliminating waste in systems and does not prescribe work rules to achieve this in the same way as scrum.
Kanban aims to shorten the time between the initiation and completion of work by visualising workflows, restricting the work being done at each stage in development, and measuring work cycle times to detect improvement.
ANZ seems to be most interested in the scrum method. ANZ’s Head of Product Katherine Bray stated:
There are vestiges of roles that we recognise, but with the underpinnings of hierarchy totally blown apart…[A scrum coach] is not your boss, that’s a coach, who is a peer. That product owner is not your boss, they’re a product owner who defines the how, and you galvanise around that.
Going back to the origins of agile and system thinking, it seems clear the agile approach is most likely to succeed where the organisation adopting it possesses structural modularity. Modularity proposes that organisations structure themselves in a way that allows teams to produce work that is layered, discrete, and testable.
This is what Bray is talking about - a radically new approach to roles and work styles at ANZ.
We might dismiss this whole reorganisation as marketing theatre, but intensifying competition and rapid change are all too real. This means many Australian businesses will have to come to terms with agile approaches if they are to remain responsive and competitive.
By taking up agile’s shift from top-down management to teams that organise themselves, and from a focus on compliance to a focus on innovation, ANZ is making its intent clear. It wants to achieve different results by doing things differently – surely a sane approach to change.
Yet this idea challenges the conventional structure and ethos of banks and similarly run businesses. These organisations are built to be secure and centralised in service of efficiency; modularity pushes them to be integrated and decentralised in service of innovation.
Modularity and agility are not easy to achieve. But they are fast becoming necessary if large companies, like ANZ, are to move with the times and adapt well to market turbulence.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimo-garbuio-369039" target="_blank"></a>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimo-garbuio-369039" target="_blank">Massimo Garbuio</a> is senior lecturer, University of Sydney.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimo-garbuio-369039" target="_blank"></a>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dreu-harrison-369349" target="_blank">Dreu Harrison</a> is research assistant, University of Sydney.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimo-garbuio-369039" target="_blank"></a>
Both are authors for The Conversation.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/massimo-garbuio-369039" target="_blank"> </a>
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