Eden St North Sydney development: Myrtle 29 lodges plans for motel

Residents in a luxury north shore apartment complex are rallying against plans to turn the ground level of the building into a motel.

The owners of a ritzy north shore apartment complex have released new development plans to turn the ground floor of the building into a motel after 10 other development proposals were knocked back by council planners in the space of just three years.

Six commercial tenancies below the Envi apartment block at 13 Eden St in North Sydney would be refashioned into a motel with self-contained suites under plans released by owner Myrtle 29 Pty Ltd this week.

The proposal is the latest in a long line of development proposals for the site which included another motel application in 2019 and plans for tenancies to trade 24-hours per day in 2020.

The Envi apartment building on Eden St.

All ten development applications lodged since 2018 have been rejected by North Sydney Council.

The latest plans to the council stated the motel would have no “adverse impacts on the amenity of the adjoining properties or the surrounding neighbourhood.”

But residents living in the three levels of apartments above the shops fear the proposal would cause unacceptable noise impacts and exacerbate traffic in surrounding streets.

Resident Sally McGrath said living above a motel was not what residents signed up to when buying into the building.

An architectural plan of the motel.

“We’ve been plagued with DA after DA after DA and it’s got to the point where I think even North Sydney Council which has to be objective is even finding it ridiculous,” she said.

“We all bought into this apartment block as luxury units with offices below, not a motel.

“The site is way too small and there’s already not enough parking in the area as it is.

“I don’t see how it could function for the amenity for the people living in the building but also the residents in the surrounding area.”

Another resident Amanda Judd said the proliferation in development proposals has caused mental health impacts on residents.

“We moved in four years ago and the first DA came three months after we settled,” she said.

“It’s stressful - you find out about it and then have to go through the same process again.

“The stress that goes along with every DA is a factor in our lives now.”

The proposal is the latest development plan for the site.

The North Shore Times contacted Myrtle 29 Pty Ltd for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Plans to the council show the motel would be staffed by a manager during business hours who would carry out duties including spot checks on cleaning and waste collection.

The manager would also be responsible for ensuring guests “behave at all times in a manner that does not unreasonably disturb other guests or surrounding residents and/or workers.”

Guests would also not be allowed to have more than two visitors at any one time and visitors must leave by 10pm unless authorised.

Plans to the council stated the proposal was “generally consistent” with the B4 mixed use zoning of the site on the “basis the use of the buildings for motel accommodation provides an appropriate mix of uses”.

Other feedback to the council has included objections from residents living adjacent to the site with one submission stating: “If perchance (the development is approved) then scrap the name of Eden St and replace it with Hell Drive.”

The proposal remains under assessment by North Sydney Council.