Seniors Housing & Healthcare Trends

MELBOURNE: Downsizers are buying into a residential enclave being created around a gaming/pokies palace.

The dramatic overhaul of the dilapidated Balmain Leagues Club site in Sydney’s inner west has introduced a new element of ­luxury to the once working-class suburb.

With the price of homes on the coveted Balmain peninsula skyrocketing, the long-awaited development is drawing local down­sizers and buyers from across Sydney, partly due to its unique views including Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge.

With architecture by Studio. SC, interiors by SJB and landscaping by Arcadia, the 16-storey mixed-use development will also include retail, hospitality and community offerings.

Rozelle Village will have a total of 227 dwellings, including 59 ­affordable homes. The one, two and three-bedroom apartments are selling fast, and the expected prices of the penthouses and sub-penthouses are tipped to smash records.

Fabrizio Perilli, group managing director at Versatile Group, which is undertaking the project, said sales had been strong ahead of the expected completion in 2028, with about 40 per cent of the tower’s apartments now pre-sold.

Two-bedroom apartments are selling for between $2.4m and $3.4m. Three-bedroom units have attracted prices between $3.4m and $7.5m – a premium to many freestanding homes in the peninsula area, 4.3km from the Sydney CBD.

Mr Perilli said there would be a couple of penthouses atop the development and three sub-penthouses, but he was yet to price these final apartments. However, he noted that apartments were still selling at a discount to the elevated prices being paid for apartments in Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs.

He is bullish that the tower will stand out for years to come, not only for its quality, but also due to the lack of rival stock in the surrounding areas, with few residential schemes even being attempted in Sydney’s inner west.

Nearby Pyrmont, however, is expected to see some residential construction activity. Towers are planned next to the new Sydney Fish Markets by Mirvac, and boutique developer Toohey Miller is also proposing one of Pyrmont’s tallest apartment towers.

The Balmain project has already attracted major offshore backers. Versatile Group and its backer, Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate Asia, have just introduced a series of new investors into the Rozelle Village.

MEA sold off part of its interest to a consortium of leading Japanese companies, with the new investment houses including the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development, Toho Gas Real Estate Development Co, and Meitetsu City Design Co.

Mr Perilli said the move showed the ongoing strength of Australia’s residential market, which is winning fresh capital for new luxury projects.

“The divestment by Mitsubishi diversifies our funding base and underscores the high-quality ­nature of the project and its strong fundamentals,” he said.

MEA’s Australian head, Yosuke Matsunaga, said Rozelle Village was the type of high-quality Australian residential development that Japanese investors were drawn to. “This market continues to be highly attractive for real ­estate investment, underpinned by continued demand for quality housing,” Mr Matsunaga said.

The $800m development was announced in January as the first beneficiary of a $1bn NSW state government scheme to guarantee pre-sales of thousands of new apartments.