Chatswood Site Snapped Up for $200m Apartment Project

Coronation Property has moved on a 2000sq m site on Sydney’s lower north shore where the developer plans to develop a $200-million apartment project. 

Privately owned Coronation intends to put forward plans for a 130-apartment project for the site at 57-61 Archer Street, Chatswood, about 10km from the CBD.

Coronation went after the site, occupied by a low-format unit block, due to its proximity to the suburb’s core amenity—it is close to Westfield Chatswood and Chatswood Chase, and less than a 10-minute walk to the Chatswood station.

Coronation Property head of urban transformations Aras Labutis said the project would be targeted at owner-occupiers and investors despite the developer’s foray into the build-to-rent sector in recent years.

“The site presented a unique opportunity for us to contribute to what we see as one of Sydney’s fastest-growing precincts,” Labutis said. 

“The site is in an ideal location, in a blue-chip area currently experiencing extensive investment into its town centre and the surrounding infrastructure.” 

Coronation Property, a Sydney developer established in 2012 and known for its mixed-use developments and masterplanned communities across Sydney, has $5.3 billion in mixed-use projects in its pipeline.

Before the pandemic, the developer bought a 12,400sq m site in Merrylands, in the city’s western suburbs, for its first build-to-rent project, Mason and Main.

The developer, which has been transitioning into new asset classes in recent years, currently has projects at 8 Phillip Street in Parramatta, Charlie Parker in Harris Park, Ashbury Terraces in Ashbury and Moore Point in Liverpool.

Pending applications and approvals, Coronation Property expects to begin construction on its Chatswood project in about 18 months.

▲ Developer and builder Coronation Property has acquired a site in Chatswood with plans to develop mixed-use precinct. Image: Nearmap

Completion is earmarked for early 2025, soon after the expected opening of Chatswood’s new Sydney Metro train station.

Chatswood, one of the most expensive non-beach or harbourside suburbs in Australia's most expensive city, has remained a development hotspot for apartment developers in recent years due to the disparity in prices between houses and units.

According to Corelogic, the median unit sale price has lifted by 2.2 per cent during the past month to now be more than $1 million, while the median house price has soared by almost 30 per cent in the same period.

The Coronation project will be the second new apartment development in the area in the past four years as the region takes shape under a new planning review. 

Developer Central Element is pressing ahead with a $150-million project at 15 Ellis Street that will include 55 luxury apartments, retail and wellness facilities and offer views of the Sydney CBD and Blue Mountains.

The plans have been scaled back from 55 to 49 apartments atop a two-to-four storey podium comprising about 1200sq m of retail and commercial space. 

Plans have also been approved for a 25-storey mixed-use residential and commercial development across a 2700sq m site at 44-52 Anderson Street bounded by O’Brien Street, Day Street and Cambridge Lane.

That project will feature 156 residential apartments above commercial floorspace.