Aged-care developer snaps up five-house block in Sydney for $21 million
An amalgamated site in St Ives on Sydney’s upper north shore has sold for more than $21 million – a record price for residential development sites in the suburb.
The five properties at the corner of Killeaton Street and Mona Vale Road form an 8230-square-metre site, which sold off-market for $2555 a square metre.
The five house owners are pocketing an average of $4.2 million each, though one would fetch more as it occupies two land titles, sales agent Moss Akbarian from Ray White St Ives said.
That is double the $2.1 million median house price in St Ives, according to Domain Group data.
One of the St Ives houses sold in the $21 million deal. Photo: Domain
“The vendors are elated,” he said, adding that none of the property owners were looking to sell before he approached them.
With about 10 buyers enquiring about the property, the purchaser is a Melbourne-based developer.
Although no development applications had been lodged for the site, Mr Akbarian said the new owners had plans to build a high-end aged care facility.
Despite the site’s low-density residential zoning, developers were allowed to build medium-density retirement village projects on these sites under NSW planning laws, he said.
Most amalgamated blocks in these residential areas tend to be redeveloped for seniors housing due to this exemption.
“The only way you can have anything (of a higher density) there would be seniors housing,” he said. “People could see the profit in (this site).”
A spokesperson from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment told Commercial Real Estate the relevant planning laws are “currently under review”.
“The proposed changes to planning rules for seniors’ housing will provide local communities certainty on new developments and prevent their incremental growth in unsuitable locations,” the spokesperson said.
“Currently, councils are responsible for determining seniors housing under the SEPP (State Environmental Planning Policies ).”
Mr Akbarian said while the Sydney property market was seeing “marginal corrections”, this had been the longest lasting boom he could remember since entering the industry in 1982.
“We’re talking about the market going down, yet they’ve (the vendors) sold virtually at the very top of the top end of the market.”
He added that retirement living on the upper north shore was on the rise due to the strong over-55s demographic.
