By Megan Gorrey
A $209 million proposal to construct hundreds of build-to-rent apartments in a 43-storey tower on Sydney’s lower north shore has been approved by planning authorities as the NSW government forges ahead with plans to green-light rezonings and large housing developments simultaneously.
The government ruled the tower should be built above the Telstra exchange on the south side of the Pacific Highway at St Leonards, weeks after the area near the Crows Nest metro station was rezoned under plans to encourage more intensive residential development around major transport hubs.
The Telstra exchange building will be integrated into the new development and continue to operate.
It comes as North Sydney Council battles a proposed apartment block comprising 48 affordable homes on the opposite side of the highway in nearby Crows Nest, prompting the government to clamp down on local councils slowing the delivery of affordable housing for low-income earners.
The approval was granted under new planning controls for the Crows Nest transport oriented development scheme that came into effect on November 27. Planning Minister Paul Scully said the approval foreshadowed the “streamlined planning process” that would be available next year under a dedicated government authority.
“This rezoning and assessment pathway is similar to what proponents will have access to when working with the Housing Delivery Authority; this will speed up the delivery of good projects.”
Premier Chris Minns last month announced a three-person Housing Delivery Authority would approve spot land rezonings and major residential developments concurrently, bypassing local councils, in what he touted as “a big step forward and a significant change” to deliver more homes.
The troika would have powers to pluck proposals out of the planning system or take applications from developers, and would potentially shave years off typical approval time frames, Minns said.
Developer lobby groups lauded the reforms, which were opposed by local councils. They will come into effect in early 2025.
The St Leonards project, led by developer Home, features 272 build-to-rent dwellings, 10 affordable housing units, 84 serviced apartments and shops. The Telstra exchange will continue to operate.
The government identified capacity for 5900 new homes around the Crows Nest metro station.
Scully said: “This project is a great example of an innovative infill development proposal which will provide nearly 290 new homes plus new short-term accommodation within six kilometres of the Sydney CBD.”
Lane Cove Mayor Merri Southwood said the council had not formally objected to the project, but it was generally of the view build-to-rent developments were “not good from a council perspective”.
“Because they’re not [covered by a strata title] the block is rated as one site, so you’re getting a huge uplift in terms of new residents, but you don’t get a huge uplift in rates revenue.”
North Sydney Council, which also did not object to the project, is fighting a separate proposal to construct a 22-storey building with 188 units, including 48 affordable homes, on the northern side of the Pacific Highway at Crows Nest. That $141 million project, which the council argues is overly large and bulky, is being assessed by the Independent Planning Commission.
Separately, Scully announced on Wednesday proposals seeking to leverage the government’s affordable housing incentives to add height and density to apartment blocks would no longer be referred to the IPC, which was formed to decide the state’s most contentious developments.
Scully said he would remove the threshold which meant such proposals were referred to the commission if the local council objected.
This process, he said, could add nearly 130 days to the assessment period for a project, when many of the matters objected to could be resolved during the planning department’s assessment.
“Housing should not be the sort of controversial project that goes to the highest of the planning bodies in the state – it should be the bread and butter of our planning system,” Scully said.
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