Upscaled $80m Bondi Junction Shoptop Tower Approved

Stargate Property Group’s upscaled Bondi Junction tower has been greenlit despite objections over its “visual dominance” from the council, the public and heritage authorities.

The project at a prominent site at 194-214 Oxford Street, 2 Nelson Street and part of Osmund Lane overlooking Centennial Park was approved via the State Significant Development pathway. 

Stargate, via its Westgate BJ Pty Ltd vehicle, plans to build a 14 to 17-storey shoptop housing development of two towers with 85 apartments. 

Of those, 68 are allocated as market apartments, with the remaining affordable units managed by Bridge Housing. 

The site 6km south of the Sydney CBD was amalgamated from nine lots and is 550m from Bondi Junction train station as well as Centennial Park and the Federation Pavilion.

▲ A rendering of the Oxford Street project by Stargate at Bondi Junction.

The site is currently under construction based on two existing development consents for an 11-storey shoptop housing project of 70 apartments, under which early works and cold shell construction of levels below the ninth storey have begun.

The project was upscaled earlier this year when the developers sought to add height and increase the floor space ratio, taking advantage of the infill affordable housing provisions of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (SEPP). 

The project intends to deliver “high-quality, well-placed housing” that has a public plaza and pedestrian link. 

That upscale has now been approved by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. 

That was despite a rejection from the Waverley Council that said the proposal failed to meet the criteria for an SSD, and suffered from “excessive height” and “visual dominance”. 

▲ SJB Architects designed Stargate's Bondi Junction project.

The council’s submission also criticised solar access impacts and “excessive” carparking, given the proposal details 138 spaces—the council said 104 spaces would be the maximum required.

The project also attracted 125 public submissions, of which 118 were objections, as well as an objection from the Heritage Council of NSW due to the proposal’s proximity to heritage items in the area.

But the department said the plan exhibited design excellence, responded to the constraints of the site and would not result in unreasonable visual or overshadowing impacts on the nearby Centennial Park of neighbours due to its stepped height. 

It also said that with only one heritage listed Norfolk Island pine tree on site, which was recently struck by lightning and was removed, there would be no impact on heritage items. 

Its impacts on the nearby Centennial Park would be negligible, given the proposal was “carefully designed” to minimise visual impacts with a stepped built form creating “visual interest” geared away from the park, the department said.

The plan has an estimated development cost of $79.97 million.

▲ A rendering of the Bondi Beach project at Hall Street.

Another project making progress at Waverley is a five-storey mixed-use shoptop planned for Bondi Beach. 

The adaptive reuse plans were lodged in January 2025 by investment manager OCP Asia founding partner Dan Simmons and his wife Mandy for a site at 27 Hall Street.

They want to build a shoptop development of two retail tenancies at the ground floor where it would retain an existing street-facing facade.

The 17 apartments above would be arranged in tiers and comprise a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom units, all with private balconies or terraces.

▲ MHN Design Union designed the Hall Street project at Bondi Beach.

Five units are allocated as affordable, which allows the project to take advantage of height and floor space ratios under Housing SEPP amendments.

It was deemed refused by the Waverley Council after it did not determine the development on time, and the developers took the project to the NSW Land and Environment Court. 

Undertaking a conciliation conference with the council, the developers resolved issues such as inadequate rear setbacks and internal amenity available to some apartments, exceedance of building height controls and “a failure to exhibit design excellence”. 

Design amendments were made to improve the proposed buildings’ relationship to their site and context, the court heard, reducing the overall scale of proposed built form.

The court upheld the appeal and permitted the amended plans to go ahead.