Highly-regarded Sydney developer has broken ground on its historic project in Coogee

Highly-regarded Sydney builder/developer Central Element (CE) has broken ground on its Ballamac House project in Coogee. Officially marking the commencement of construction, this is the fifth project scheduled to be delivered by CE in 2025, with the five amounting to an end value of more than $700 million.

This unique project will see the restoration of the illustrious 1860s Ballamac House Coogee. Reflecting the company’s commitment to heritage and sustainability, this historic landmark is set to be thoughtfully transformed into one of the Eastern Suburbs’ most prestigious collections of eight luxury residences.

CE is a privately owned company, with its three Directors – Shane Smollen, Wayne Chivas and Nathan Chivas boasting close to a century of shared industry experience. Construction is something embedded in the Chivas’ family, with Wayne Chivas and sons – Nathan and Dean, running a builder/ developer company prior to establishing CE in partnership with Smollen.

CE's unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and creating a legacy is clearly reflected in the Chivas family's past projects, as well as the company’s multi-billion-dollar portfolio of luxury residential, mixed-use and hotel developments. Exemplifying this is its Anden Coogee project, which has received multiple accolades including two UDIA NSW 2023 Awards and a distinguished five-star rating at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2024-25.

Building and project delivery is deeply engrained in CE’s DNA, with extensive experience rooted across all levels of the business, enabling end-to-end delivery of its award-winning projects. Another key leader, CE’s Chief Operating Officer Ben Priestley has extensive experience in construction from his previous roles with Crown Group, Meriton and Brookfield Multiplex.

As CE continues to expand with recent acquisitions in Bondi and Greenwich, it will now look to those opportunities to provide early inputs during the design process to ensure buildability and the best end user experience.

Leading project delivery on Ballamac is Hayden Callaghan, CE’s Head of Construction. Callaghan has over 20-years’ experience in residential and commercial construction. Handpicking the best team for the job, Callaghan has appointed Andrew Westbrook as Commercial and Operations Manager and Callum Schrader as Project Manager. Between them, they have led teams across numerous notable Sydney landmarks such as Harbourside and 55 Pitt Street in the CBD, The CH9 Redevelopment at Willoughby, The Foundry at South Eveleigh and The Pacific in Bondi.

“What drew me to CE, was the company’s vision of unlocking remarkable places that benefit its stakeholders, investors, and communities,” said Callaghan. 

“My main goal is to build a diverse and highly skilled in-house construction team, which will be crucial to bringing CE’s concept to completion delivery model to life.

At CE, we’re passionate about crafting environments in which people can thrive and we’re committed to doing this with transparency, honesty and integrity at the core of everything we do.”

Nathan Chivas, Managing Director of Central Element, commented on the company's continual success in delivery;

“Construction engrained in both my family’s and the wider CE team’s DNA, and we look forward to delivering from inception to completion our award winning, luxury residences.

With Ballamac, our goal is to elevate the buyer experience – delivering a superior quality of build, innovative design and flexible customer-focused approach. As we continue to raise the bar for ourselves, fostering innovation and embracing sustainable practices, we hope this assists to elevate wider industry standards.

We are thrilled have a talent such as Hayden on board. His expertise and leadership have been instrumental in building on CE’s construction arm. With a capable team under his direction, I’m confident they will make valuable contributions to our projects and help us exceed our goals here at CE.”

CE has commenced construction on Ballamac House, with completion anticipated for December 2025.

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