Bridgehill’s $105 apartment vision for Green Square

A development boom at Sydney’s Green Square is gathering pace with Bridgehill revealing plans for a $105 million residential project in the heart of the Town Centre precinct.

Bridgehill will develop a 350-apartment residential complex across three towers up to 15-storeys tall at the Waverley Council Depot site near Green Square.

The SJB designed complex will be the group’s first instalment within the broader slab at 105-115 Portman Street, earmarked for nearly 800 apartments.

Bridgehill is one of Australia’s fastest growing developers, with an annual development target of more than 500 apartments a year. Headed by Xu Yibin, the group has developments at Rhodes, Mascot and Milsons Point, a landbank of more than 1800 apartments and a reputation as an aggressive bidder for prime sites around Sydney.

The group knocked out Mirvac, Meriton Apartments and Ralan Group in August 2013 to nab the 1.79-hectare council depot site with an offer of more than $82 million.

Located a minute’s walk from Green Square Train Station, the site is a crucial spoke within the Green Square Town Centre urban development plan, under which it has been designated a potential gross floor area of 65,500 square metres.

According to the development plan, the site carries capacity for around 780 apartments with shops and restaurants at ground level.

The group will now develop the site in stages.

First instalment

The first instalment is known as site 12B on 6074 square metres will have three towers measuring 9, 11 and 15-storeys above two levels of carparking with 321 spaces. It will be bordered by the future Geddes Avenue to the North, Paul Street to the west and Sonny Leonard Street to the south.

The neighbouring site 12A will carry around 250 apartments in a nine-storey industrial-influenced tower designed by Sydney-based architects MHN Design Union.

Other developments in the area include Mirvac’s Ovo eliptical tower and Ebsworth developments, which will line a public plaza with a bustling retail strip, a sunken library and cafes. Crown Group, Meriton and Payce are also midway through residential projects in the former industrial area.

Bridgehill’s site is located directly south of the future Drying Green Park, which links Green Square Train Station and the Library Plaza to the through to the Royal South Sydney Hospital and a future community hub on Joynton Avenue.

Waverley Council still uses the site as a depot for refuelling and maintenance alongside NSW State Emergency Services (SES) under an agreement set to expire in early 2015 when ownership transfers to Bridgehill.

The group has pre-sold of the units at its luxury conversion of the TAL building in Milson’s Point.

Originally published by The Australian Financial Review