Aqualand lodges State Significant Development Application for North Sydney’s first build-to-rent project

Leading Australian property group, Aqualand, has lodged a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) with the NSW Government for North Sydney’s first build-to-rent (BTR) project, to be built on the 1,641sqm site of its existing commercial building at 146 Arthur Street in North Sydney.

The SSDA proposes a mixed-use 46-storey building featuring 390 apartments available for rent above a ground floor retail and commercial precinct, in the heart of the transforming North Sydney CBD, just 400 metres from North Sydney Station and 250 metres south from the Victoria Cross Metro Station.

The Woods Bagot-designed proposal includes a three-storey articulated podium that mimics small-scale adjoining buildings to reflect a village-scale street frontage. Created from locally sourced bricks using natural aggregates to distinguish them from the building above, the podium will feature internal mini laneways to draw in landscaping through and around the site and connect the retail spaces, residential lobby and amenities, to the existing surrounding street network and the adjacent Doris Fitton Park. A landscaped resident’s terrace will sit atop the lobby.

The ground level, hotel-style porte cochere, will feature a central spine with adjoining reception, resident’s lounge and separate library, flexible shared space, café space, restaurant space, mail room, inviting water feature, and a bicycle parking area. Level one will include several large bookable co-working rooms and additional flexible resident’s spaces, adjoining two expansive terraces. 

Underneath the podium, resident’s amenities will include a cinema room, gym, games room, kid’s play area, pool, sauna and spa, including a children’s shallow splash pool, change rooms and resident’s lounge, above three levels of car parking. 

The above tower envelope features three articulated forms which respond to the proposed city skyline’s form, while creating a dynamic presence from the east. BTR apartments will feature from level two to 44, crowned by a second resident’s terrace, complete with amenities with expansive views of Mosman and Sydney Harbour, over Neutral Bay.

Highly efficient floor plates and five apartment types have been created to allow for additional focus on and space in the tower for high-quality indoor and outdoor amenity spaces. Five apartments types, Type A (two-bedroom - 80sqm), B (two-bedroom - 82sqm), C (one-bedroom - 50sqm), D (one-bedroom - 58sqm), and E (one-bedroom - 60sqm), are the same for all residential levels, with the eastern facade changing to provide more apartment types.

Four central three-storey Sky Gardens on every seventh floor of the tower’s eastern façade will provide equal access to Sydney Harbour views for all residents, creating another space to gather, and an immediate visual connection to nature upon exit from the lifts on every amenity floor. Some apartments will have internal balconies directly overlooking the Sky Gardens.

The tower’s rooftop will include another six bookable resident’s lounges, four including kitchens, that spill out onto a 245sqm outdoor terrace, for entertaining guests in style, with expansive views including the very best of Sydney. 

Uniquely, the building’s façade will be embellished with a mix of natural and recycled materials, including glazed and matte finished terracotta and aggregate brick and sandstone recycled from site wastage. Ventilation will be provided via curtain walls with operable and mechanical ventilation grills expelling hot air and taking in cold air.

Jin Lin, Aqualand’s Group Managing Director, said, “With our landmark project AURA by Aqualand now complete with residents moving in, we’re really excited to progress our next North Sydney project to this milestone stage.

“We’re aware the North Sydney commercial centre offers a highly connected alternative to Sydney’s CBD, with the current commercial property cycle shifting towards tenants wanting to move away from Sydney’s CBD, while simultaneously maintaining connectivity with it. 146 Arthur Street offers a highly attractive and connected opportunity to strengthen the North Sydney CBD as a major commercial centre in Sydney.

“With BTR continuing to provide a viable solution to addressing the rising demand for rentable, high quality and professionally managed residences, its segment of the local housing sector continues to increase.

“As such, we look forward to providing our future tenants with this high-quality rental product, complete with its substantial range of hotel-style amenities and services designed to elevate their lifestyles, connect them with nature, and all the conveniences and services they require, all while creating a strong sense of community within the building.

“The lodgement of this SSDA is further testament to our deep committment to the North Sydney council area, with two projects, AURA by Aqualand and BLUE at Lavender Bay, completed in June this year and 2021, consecutively. We’ve also released our plans for our 132 Arthur Street site, which includes a second BTR building mixed with our first hotel, for which we’ve also lodged a SEARS submission. Meanwhile, our 15 Blue Street building remains another potential future redevelopment site.”

“With North Sydney currently in the midst of a major rejuvenation, these key projects will significantly contribute to the vibrancy of the suburb’s future 18-hour economy,” he added.