$25 million Lane Cove apartment project site sold

JLL has sold a 2,987sqm raw residential development site at Lane Cove, on Sydney’s tightly held Lower North Shore. Adjoining business owners have capitalised on a joint sales opportunity which has been secured by WINIM Funds Management for $25 million. Located at 1 Gatacre Avenue and 5 Allison Avenue Lane Cove, the site has high density residential zoning, making for an opportunity for a 7,169 sqm of gross floor area. JLL’s Capital Markets (NSW) Associate, Harry Sullivan sold the amalgamated site, formerly comprising of a 43-room hotel and licensed restaurant, and adjacent residential home. “Active developers are focusing on smaller scale high-quality projects in premium locations. Improving conditions are seeing investors return to the apartment market, looking to capitalise on the strength of the broader housing market and rapidly growing prices. "Like the existing housing market, more owner-occupier focused smaller apartment developments across much of Sydney have rebounded and performed strongly over the past year. “Demand is being driven by owner occupiers. "There has been a significant shift towards catering for the owner occupier apartment market, as there is a lack of supply of luxury apartments,” said Mr Sullivan. According to JLL Research, the volume of all apartment sales in Sydney has increased significantly since 2Q20. The number of apartments under construction rose slightly in 2Q21 to 6,560, in an environment where it is generally smaller, high-quality projects progressing to construction as developers continue to focus on the owner-occupier market. It noted pricing for these development sites had surpassed pre-pandemic levels.