Woolworths’ rezoning review of its Koichi Takada-designed multi-residential development at Neutral Bay comes at a time when it is looking to expand its apartment developments in the likes of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The potential development of plans for both Neutral Bay and Elsternwick have been met with opposition from local residents, mainly to do with the exceeding of building heights and floorspace ratios, as well as providing a lack of affordable housing options.
Woolworths Director of Property Development, Andrew Loveday, tells the Sydney Morning Herald that the projects have been devised in a bid to allow future residents to shop closer to home.
“By controlling the development outcome of mixed use developments, it means that we can put the customer and community at the heart of our decision-making, as opposed to being solely driven by residential development objectives,” he says.
“If we were to sell the sites we own in inner-city suburbs across the country, it is likely that the development proposals put forward would be apartments only and have no additional amenity at all.”
Given rising land costs and a growing lack of supply, developers and retailers are now locking horns over sites across capital cities. It is seeing mixed-use precincts more commonly comprising hospitality and retail offerings as a compromise of sorts.
Woolworths’ desire to develop creates a customer base instantaneously alongside the residences. Post-pandemic, retailers such as Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have shifted to smaller, more compact stores, which support on-the-go purchasing of goods for singles, couples and families.
The Neutral Bay development has already been rejected by North Sydney Council, with Woolworths calling upon the Sydney North Planning Panel to review the proposal. The Planning Panel has the ability to overrule council decisions if it sees fit.
