ApartmentsClare BurnettWed 08 Jul 26
Court Approves Apartment Schemes in Blue-Ribbon Sydney Suburbs
Two projects in Eastern Sydney have been approved by the NSW Land and Environment Court after earlier rejections by local authorities.
At Coogee, an eight-level shoptop housing project has been waved ahead for the site 9.5km south-east of the Sydney CBD in a beachside locale where houses reach a median of $4.67 million and apartments $1.6 million.
The plan for 130-132 and 134 Coogee Bay Road comprised six storeys of 20 apartments above two levels of basement parking.
The proposal for the 1005.3sq m site w assubmitted by a vehicle associated with Rory Weinstein, managing director of Sydney-based Primus Property Group.
The development will replace a part-three-storey brick shoptop building and a two-storey house.
The development application was filed in June 2025, and refused by the Randwick Local Planning Panel in October.
The LEC was told that the Randwick City Council remained opposed to development consent, arguing that the project represented “unacceptable” bulk, scale and overshadowing on neighbouring properties, and was not consistent with the desired future character of the area.
But LEC acting commissioner Helena Miller disagreed.
“The proposed development is consistent with the desired future character of the area and will provide a reasonable level of solar access to neighbouring properties,” Miller said.
She ruled that the development would provide a high level of amenity to future residents, and any environmental impacts were both “known and acceptable”, and conditionally approved the project.
Further north, a six-storey apartment development at Potts Point in central Sydney was also greenlit by the LEC.
JHP Property Development filed plans in 2024 for the development at 89 Macleay Street, at the same time as the area’s first multi-level site in two decades was approved.
The eight-apartment proposal was refused by the City of Sydney and JHP appealed to the court.
The LEC arranged a conciliation conference where the council and developer agreed on matters under contention, including a minor height exceedance for the lift overrun and a shade structure on the roof.
The council and court agreed that the proposals, designed by Place Studio, were consistent with the “character statement” for the Potts Point locality, and did not adversely affect views from Challis Avenue or Victoria Street.
The LEC upheld the appeal and granted the amended development application.
