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Sydney-based property developer Billbergia Group has laid plans for a $170 million mixed-use development in Chatswood on the North Shore that the company says is aimed at catering for the work-from-home trend.
The 27-storey twin-tower development, planned for a site at 8 Wilson Street, will be Billbergia’s first residential development on the North Shore, building on the company’s portfolio which has recently focused on the city’s inner west.
Billbergia currently has a 50-storey development under way at North Sydney, with the landmark office building known as 88 Walker Street set to include a business hotel and state-of-the-art recreation facilities.
However, the company says its Chatswood project is aimed at delivering 251 apartments across the two towers set above a podium comprising commercial space.
“This exciting new project will feature innovative live-work typologies and deliver critically needed new housing along with next-generation commercial spaces,” says Saul Moran, Billbergia’s development director, planning and design.
“It will be a dynamic, highly liveable and activated precinct upon completion, one which adapts seamlessly to more flexible post-COVID working styles and the continued trend of working from home.”
Billbergia says the development’s curated live-work design has been guided by Australian Bureau of Statistics data that shows about 40 per cent of Australians work from home at least part of the week.
The podium of the proposed development will offer a mix of uses, including retail, commercial showrooms, and flexible SOHO style live-work offerings, where the company says residents can work remotely in a ‘comfortable and private setting separate to their home’. The project will also include 70-place childcare centre.
Communal amenities for residents will comprise an outdoor swimming pool, landscaped communal areas, and private open rooftop spaces for some of the residents.
Billbergia has incorporated through-site pedestrian links that it says will form an activated, cross-shaped laneway connection with retail tenancies and live-work spaces.
“A combination of residential apartments, vibrant retail laneways, communal open spaces, childcare and dedicated co-working facilities will shape this revolutionary new development as a well-connected and highly liveable place,” Moran says.
“We are very excited to be developing such a ground-breaking project in Chatswood. It will embody our long-standing focus on quality and liveability, while delivering a new transport-oriented community in Sydney’s north.”
The project remains subject to development approval with Billbergia expecting construction to start in late 2024.
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