One of the last remaining mixed use development sites in the popular Rhodes precinct has sold for $45.5m.
The property at 1-9 Marquet Street covers 2,907sqm in size and sits amongst a number of large scale residential projects by Mirvac and Billbergia.
The site has been the subject of numerous development applications in recent years by Sydney development group I-Prosperity.
The first proposal was submitted by IProsperity in 2016 seeking approval to develop 399 apartments via a change in the FSR from 1.76:1 to 13.78:1 and to increase the maximum height from 23m to 127m (Approx. 40 storey tower). In 2017, two proposals were submitted to lower the height to 119m.
The key concerns for Council was the overshadowing of the nearby Rhodes Town Square which the adjoining developer, Billbergia, managed to overcome from an innovative Heliostat.
IProsperity adopted a similar strategy in 2018 with a further application incorporating a Heliostat. Council approved the scheme for Gateway Determination with a submission made in early 2019. During this process, the Department of Planning also exhibited a Draft Rhodes East Place Strategy which also included recommended controls for part of Rhodes West, including the IProsperity site.
The Department’s preferred controls were well short of those proposed by IProsperity and in March 2021, the Department of Planning determined that the application should not proceed due to the excessive development.
IProsperity elected to sell the site in May 2021 appointing Matrix Properties as agent. Contract were exchanged with Genesis Capital in June 2021 and settlement was completed in mid September.
The final Rhodes Precinct Plan was released to the public yesterday and provides specific controls for the site which reflect a development capacity of around 214 apartment.
On that basis, the site was priced at around $210,000 per potential apartment.