DEMAND for apartments hit a record high in July, with the City of Sydney receiving more than 2400 development applications for units in just one month.
The record figure highlights the significant push from developers who want to lure potential buyers closer to the CBD.
One hundred new homes are being completed in the City of Sydney area each week, and over the past five years approximately 1900 dwellings have been built in the LGA each year.
By 2018, 8000 dwellings are due for completion in the City of Sydney.
The most prominent suburb for development is Green Square, which will be home to more than 54,000 people by 2030.
Yet the City’s executive manager for strategic planning, Andrew Thomas, said despite the recent boom there was still scope for further development within the area.
“We have boom market conditions in the City of Sydney right now,” he said. “They are being supported by its attractiveness to people wanting to live here.
“We are Australia’s most global city, so we do attract workers and residents from all over the world.
“What we are seeing in Sydney is the conversion of older commercial buildings into residential apartments so, for example, they could be heritage-listed warehouses converted into loft-style apartments.”
Mr Thomas said the City had not witnessed a DA boom of this scale since the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
“We usually report on these figures annually but this is a significant boom in applications,” he said.
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“We have not seen these kinds of numbers since back to the time leading up to the Olympics.
“Because the City is spending more on infrastructure like roads and footpaths, street furniture, libraries, childcare centres and playgrounds, it makes higher density living more attractive.”
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the rising figures showed the area was an increasingly attractive place for people to reside.
“With so many new apartments in the pipeline, it is vital that the State and Federal Governments now work with us to provide transport, schools, affordable housing and the other infrastructure essential for new high-density communities,” Cr Moore said.
“Over the last eleven years the City has completed more projects than any other council in NSW.
“Our aim has been to create a city renowned for its design excellence, beautiful parks and open space, business growth, creative capacity, livability and sustainability.”
BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME
Some major development applications submitted in July:
● Surry Hills — 73 apartments and a hotel
● Zetland — 510 apartments on Epsom Rd
● Waterloo — 72 affordable housing apartments
● Erskineville — 1630 apartments in ‘Ashmore’
● Circular Quay — 114 apartments at Young and Loftus streets
THE APARTMENT COMPLEX FOR ‘COOL’ PEOPLE
WOOLLOOMOOLOO will be graced with a chic new residential development when Scout is completed in late-2016.
The project at 95-97A Bourke St and 11A Harmer St is set to launch on Saturday and will feature 11 apartments in total.
Developed by Catylis Properties and designed by Those Architects, Scout will include a mix of studio apartments, one-bedroom units and a two-bedroom residence.
CPM Realty’s project marketer Sam Elbanna said the boutique development will have low strata fees and is targeted at “young cool people”. “Generally the people that we’ve met thus far are people that work in the city and come from areas such as Darlinghurst and Surry Hills as well as Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay,” he said.
Mr Elbanna said the project attracted buyers because it offered a walkable lifestyle.
The studio apartments are 55 to 63sq m with prices starting at $620,000. The one-bedroom units are 68 to 84sq m, depending on whether they include a study and terrace, with prices from $679,000. The two bedroom apartment includes a study and spans 86sq m, with a starting price of $1.1 million.
For more information visit scout.sydney.
TELL US: WILL THE CITY COPE WITH SO MANY NEW RESIDENTS?