‘Boat in the Ground’: Vitale Lifts Eade on Complex Byron Foreshore

“We have to treat the structure almost like a boat in the ground.” It’s Vitale co-founder Chris Vitale’s shorthand for the engineering beneath Byron Bay’s first new beachfront apartments in a decade. And for future residents of the soon-to-rise Eade Residences, their dreams of drifting off to sleep by the seaside will be well anchored by the clever engineering below the sand line. The 6000sq m site at 2-4 Milton and 29 Shirley streets—fronting the Main Beach foreshore—was a bold play for the builder–developer. “It’s a rare, beautiful site, but technically one of the more challenging pieces of land in Byron,” Vitale tells The Urban Developer. Vitale is also the group behind the Gold Coast’s Mondrian Hotel and Private Residences , a flagship project that strengthened its capability for complex coastal engineering and high-exposure beachfront delivery. Chris and co-founder Letitia Vitale steered the Mondrian project through storms, delays and a $70-million blowout, a process that sharpened their appetite for exposed coastal sites. “We’re dealing with a combination of a large basement—circa 4200sq m—and a shallow water table. It means we have to treat the structure almost like a boat in the ground, managing buoyancy, seepage and long-term durability very carefully,” Vitale says of the Byron development. ▲ A rendering of Eade Byron Bay’s three-level build on the Main Beach foreshore, designed by Hayball and shaped by coastal engineering constraints. Those constraints shaped the delivery model. “We frontloaded design and approvals around the basement and ground plane before racing into superstructure, so we’re not discovering risk once we’re out of the ground,” he says. “We’re using robust retention and waterproofing systems designed specifically for Byron’s coastal conditions, with independent verification built into the program.” With demolition finished and the basement now complete, Eade is shifting into its above-ground phase—a three-level, 25-residence project rising on one of Byron’s most tightly held beachfront parcels, overlooking the stretch of Main Beach known for The Wreck surf break. “Demolition, site establishment, civil works, basement excavation and basement retention is now 100 per cent complete,” Vitale says. “The tower crane is installed and we are about to commence moving vertical with the building’s structure.” Designed by Hayball with interiors by Alexander &amp; Co, the homes range from 206sq m to 622sq m, starting from $4.75 million. The mix includes 10 garden apartments with private gardens from 284sq m to 622sq m—nine with private pools—five ultra-premium residences and 10 rooftop terrace apartments with private plunge pools and protected beach outlooks. Delete Eade is also the first beachfront development approved in Byron in more than a decade, which has helped fuel early demand. Projx Australia and Whitefox Projects are leading the sales campaign, with more than 1900 enquiries logged since early marketing began. Whitefox Projects national projects director Phillip Rand says interest surged well before the official launch. “Eade sits in one of Australia’s most tightly held coastal destinations,” he says. “It’s an extraordinary beachfront opportunity overlooking The Wreck, delivered by a group with proven experience.” The scheme evolved during a 2024 modification. The original approval featured a simpler rooftop, fewer pools and a more conventional apartment mix. ▲ A subtropical pool spine runs through Eade Byron Bay’s shared amenity, linking gardens with wellness spaces. Revised plans introduced private rooftop pools, expanded wellness spaces and reworked layouts aimed at longer-term living. “We took the opportunity to lift wellness and amenity,” Vitale says. “It meant adding dedicated workplace spaces—owner offices and boardrooms—along with a wellness and recovery centre, plus refinement of the resort pool, gym, sauna and cold-plunge offering.” Internal planning shifted with it. “We simplified and enlarged some residences and sharpened bedroom and study configurations for people planning to base themselves here longer-term,” he says. “It also allowed us to improve natural cross-ventilation and daylight penetration.” The rooftop received the most visible change. “We reconfigured the rooftop program to introduce private pools, more intimate terraces and layered landscaping, so it feels like an elevated coastal garden rather than a single large, exposed platform.” Shared amenities now include a resort-style pool wrapped in subtropical gardens, a gym, sauna, cold plunge and dedicated workspaces, nudging the building closer to a hotel-calibre residential model. Eade is also pursuing an 8-Star Green Star rating through energy-efficient systems, eco-sensitive materials and extensive coastal landscaping. Vitale is delivering Eade as both developer and builder, consistent with a structure the group has used for more than a decade. For this site, the team split delivery into three layers: a developer-builder function carrying whole-of-project risk; independent client-side project managers interrogating cost and program; and a curated consultant group led by Hayball, Alexander &amp; Co and Urbis, supported by coastal, structural and environmental engineers familiar with Byron’s geology. ▲ A rendering of a garden residence at Eade, with private pool, deep terraces and ground-level living areas. Lessons from Mondrian carried across. “At Mondrian we learned how much value flows when the team who will run an asset inform decisions at the front end,” Vitale says. “Even though Eade is purely residential, we took the same mindset—focusing on how the building will be managed, serviced and experienced day-to-day.” Privacy was another lesson. “Mondrian underscored the importance of clear separation between public, shared and private zones. For Eade, this thinking translated into very defined gradations—from resort pool and gardens through to deeply private terraces and roof decks.” Vitale describes the buyer pool as global but highly engaged. “We’re seeing Australian and expat families making Byron their primary base, owners from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast shifting from ‘holiday home’ to ‘second life’, and international lifestyle buyers who know this market well. “They’re seeking beachfront homes aligned with environmental and wellness expectations.” The most challenging aspect, Vitale says, has been holding the line on ambition. “Environmentally, architecturally and from a resident-experience perspective, we’ve pushed hard.” “Mondrian showed us there is real appetite for projects crafted to a best-in-class benchmark. “Eade feels like the next chapter: a very small number of homes on irreplaceable beachfront land, designed to sit lightly in the landscape but live incredibly well over the long term.”

‘Boat in the Ground’: Vitale Lifts Eade on Complex Byron Foreshore

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