Urban Property swoops on Central Coast Quarter site with new towers to rise
Urban Property has swooped on the stalled Central Coast Quarter project in NSW, picking it up from the development arm of St Hilliers and is looking to restart it next week.
Sydney-based company Urban Property has swooped on the stalled Central Coast Quarter project in NSW, picking it up from the development arm of St Hilliers and is looking to restart it next week.
The impending deal has been welcomed by regulators, which have looked to top building and development companies to restart projects that have been derailed by the construction crisis and left unfinished.
Urban, one of the most active developers in NSW with projects across Sydney’s western suburbs in traditional apartments, as well a build-to-rent scheme in Parramatta, has been looking for high-quality projects which it could complete.
St Hilliers had picked up The Central Coast Quarter site from Government Property NSW in early 2017 for about $9.5m, but administrators WLP Restructuring took over the company’s construction division in early 2024, stopping work on 21 projects.
But crucially, the development arm did not go into administration, and it was rated as high-quality under NSW government standards – allowing Urban to move quickly on the project.
The project’s $115m first stage, known as The Waterfront – comprising 136 apartments, was approved in April 2022 and had been due to be finished last year, and will now go ahead under the Urban banner.
Urban will honour the existing pre-sale contracts with buyers already having been given the choice to rescind, and they will now regain certainty on an end date for the project. The company will also safeguard buyer interests by applying a 10-year Latent Defects Insurance, offering additional protection against unforeseen construction defects for a decade from the date of purchase.
“The smooth transition of The Central Coast Quarter project to Urban Property Group is an exhibit of everything that the NSW industry reforms of the last five years set out to achieve. Trustworthy players delivering trustworthy buildings – which we backed by the assurance of iCIRT ratings and LDI – 10-year warranty insurance,” NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler said.
Urban chief executive Patrick Elias said that in times of industry uncertainty, well-capitalised and well-managed property groups “have a unique opportunity to step in, stabilise and revitalise projects – ensuring continuity for buyers, the construction industry and communities.
Urban, which has former NSW premier John Brogden on its board, is also highly-rated under the iCIRT scheme, and was able to negotiate the deal in just weeks. Mr Elias said that works done on the site to date were high-quality
With works on the first stage to get under way shortly, Urban is already undertaking planning works on the other towers and is planning one more of traditional apartments and another of build-to-rent units, and there would also be an affordable housing component.
Urban will keep the bulk of the subcontractors that were on the job and absorbed part of the St Hilliers team on the project.
Mr Elias said it would not have been possible unless St Hilliers left behind “a high level of work” that also satisfied the insurer.
Mr Elias said it was good to have a mix of product as the developer would stand behind its own work over the longer term, and it also wanted to provide a mix of housing in order to give customers more choice.
Mr Elias contrasted the streamlined process due to both developers being rated to sites that have been stuck unbuilt in the wake of other collapses where work has been substandard. “They’ve just sat there because builders can’t quantify what’s required to get back up to specifications,” he said.
