Developers are targeting homes near the planned new Northern Beaches hospital offering millions
DEVELOPERS are offering people up to double the price of their homes to make way for the proposed Northern Beaches hospital.
Nth Beaches
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HOMEOWNERS in Frenchs Forest are being offered multi-million dollar windfalls to walk away from their properties.
At least three developers are offering more than twice the current market value to homeowners whose property is near the planned Northern Beaches hospital on Warringah Rd.
Residents and developers are anticipating major rezonings in the area that would allow 4000 new homes and 15,000 more people in townhouses and apartments in the immediate area around the major teaching hospital, due to open in 2018.
The median price for a house in Frenchs Forest is $1,112,500 according to CoreLogic RP Data. But between $2 million and $3 million is being offered under an option payment.
Developers agree to pay the multi-million sum after two or three years and in the meantime pay the owners 1 per cent of the sum, not to sell to anyone else.
Hyecorp Property Group, of Chatswood, wrote twice to one Frenchs Forest homeowner saying it had received “overwhelming responses from your neighbours”.
A family who accepted another developer’s offer has been partying for several nights and bought a new car.
Natalie Robson, of Aranda Developments, said they felt they had won Lotto.
Ms Robson said rumours were running wild in the suburb and everyone was waiting for Warringah Council to announce which streets would be rezoned for medium and high-density and what the height limits would be for each area.
In the meantime, developers are making educated guesses as to which addresses are likely to change.
Some people owning property in Naree Rd, Rabbett St, Frenchs Forest Rd West, Holland Cres and Gladys Ave have signed.
There have been letterbox drops in Frenchs Forest East and Iris St, and developers are also talking to landowners south of Warringah Rd, in Hilmer St, Karingal Cres and Fitzpatrick Ave East.
One elderly homeowner in Holland Cres, who did not want to be named, was offered $2.5 million for her level block of about 700sq m.
“I said I wanted $5 million,” she said. “They wanted me to sign a three-year clause with 22 conditions.”
She has not signed with anyone.
Real estate agent Anne Roche, of Parnell Partners, said Warringah Council had indicated the affected areas would be made public by February and now residents wanted certainty.
“There are young families and oldies who don’t want to miss the boat on a windfall,” Ms Roche said. “People’s lives are on hold. They have waited long enough for the information.”
THE SELLERS AND THE PEOPLE HOLDING ON
SOME have signed deals with developers, others have not but all agree life in their suburb is set for drastic change.
John and Pam Oxenford are one Frenchs Forest couple who have entered into a contract which gives a developer the option to buy their land over the next two years.
The pair have lived at their house for about 50 years and did not plan to leave.
However, the Northern Beaches Hospital, anticipated rezonings and developer interest changed that.
Mr Oxenford said they feared a rezoning would allow unit buildings to be built beside them.
“Once our neighbours agreed to a deal, that was it for me,” he said.
“I didn’t want to lose our privacy to units and eventually we signed.”
The decision was not easy as the couple negotiated with a couple of developers.
“People lose sleep over it,” Mr Oxenford said.
“You wake up at 3am and think ‘what should we do’.”
The couple are aware of those who might say they signed too early.
“They could be right, but you can be left with something that’s not viable to a developer,” Mr Oxenford said. “We didn’t jump at the first offer. We negotiated.
“We got a significant increase on the initial offer.”
Not far from the Oxenfords, another couple have taken a different view.
Mark Hoare and Lauren Enfield also fielded expressions of interest in their land but are yet to sign.
Mrs Enfield said the decision was initially stressful but they were able to resolve it. Mr Hoare said: “It’s too soon. The first offer, to me, was not genuine.
“With the potential of the street, I didn’t think we had enough information to act.”
The husband and wife have three children and have lived at the house for eight years.
Like many residents, they are waiting for Warringah Council to issue the Northern Beaches Hospital Precinct Structure Plan. The plan will not contain rezonings but will provide more information on future planning for the 200ha precinct.
The couple will use this information to help determine their selling price.
Two of their children attend local schools and while the family does not want to leave the suburb, they accept change is inevitable.
“There are some things you can’t stop,” Mr Hoare said. “It’s going to happen.”
Many Frenchs Forest residents told the Daily they were sharing information with neighbours on developer approaches.
They hope being informed and acting as blocs in any negotiations will ensure they receive the best offer possible.
ADVICE FOR HANDLING DEVELOPERS
STUART Bath, of Skyline Real Estate, has been selling real estate in Frenchs Forest for nearly 30 years.
He has some clear advice on how best to handle the current proposed rezoning of some streets and how to handle developers who come knocking.
● Don’t feel you have to rush in and sign anything. If you are in hot rezoning areas you won’t miss out
● Hold off making big decisions until the zonings are announced
● Talk to your neighbours and look to amalgamate sites. Three or four neighbours who have agreed to band together are in the box seat when zonings are announced and you can offer developers a much larger parcel of land
● Not all developers will be looking for residential sites. Commercial sites will be valuable too so don’t discount them
● Try and stand back from the emotion. Developers are not interested in the house, they are just seeing the land. See it as a business transaction and not as a normal house sale
● Make sure that you understand what is being offered and what your obligations are.
RAPID BUS SYSTEM A MUST
WARRINGAH Mayor Michael Regan is refusing to start the rezoning process in streets around the planned Northern Beaches Hospital until the State Government commits to a rapid bus system between Chatswood and Dee Why that will provide public transport to and from the hospital.
The NSW Transport Department yesterday said the bus priority for the northern beaches was for the kerbside rapid transit bus from Mona Vale to the city.
“Transport for NSW is not considering the development of Bus Rapid Transit between Chatswood and Dee Why via at Frenchs Forest this time,” its statement read.
However a NSW Transport spokesman said the route from Manly to Chatswood via Brookvale, Dee Why and the Northern Beaches Hospital was one of Sydney’s most important cross-regional bus routes.
“Customers will wait no longer than 15 minutes for a bus in each direction all day every weekday, with the frequency increasing to 10 minutes at peak periods,” the spokesman said.
“In the long-term, if required to meet demand, the route can be upgraded, with even more frequent and faster services.”
Cr Regan said the east-west BRT system was imperative to the development of land around the hospital.
“They haven’t committed to the third piece of infrastructure,” he said.
“They committed to the hospital but not the BRT. The roads will be stuffed in 10 years time.”
The partnership of local councils, SHOROC, made up of Manly, Mosman, Pittwater and Warringah council has been badgering the State Government for months to include the East-West BRT in the initial infrastructure plans rather than retrofit later.
“We have reached a critical stage now,” Cr Regan said.
“Plan for the road upgrades now rather than retrofitting it at 10 times the expense.”
He said it would be reckless to create another Dee Why or Warriewood without a bus service.
“We are not going to play knowing full well the roads won’t cope ... we can’t do otherwise,” Cr Regan said.
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