Sirona wins approval for $100m South Perth tower

Local developer Sirona Capital will soon launch a marketing campaign for its $100 million Lyall Street Residences in South Perth, after winning approval to build on a site it has been seeking to develop for the last five years.

This morning, the Metropolitan Central Joint Development Assessment Panel issued its approval for Sirona’s 37-storey, 99 apartment luxury tower, which has been proposed to be built on the corner of Lyall Street and Labouchere Road.

The approved tower, designed by national architecture group Bates Smart, is the third iteration put forward by Sirona since late 2014 for the site, with development progress bogged down by uncertainty over planning guidelines in South Perth, as well as Perth’s difficult multi-residential market.

The first proposal was a $160 million, 39-level tower known as The Glasshouse, a development Sirona was pursuing in joint venture with Luke Saraceni, known as Westbridge Property Group.

That proposal, which also included a 7-storey hotel, never progressed past a March 2015 approval, with the developer pointing to continuing uncertainty in South Perth as the main contributing factor that stopped it from coming to market.

Last year, Sirona lodged a new set of plans for the site, applying to build a 41-level tower, but was rejected at JDAP in December, despite the plan being lauded for having exemplary design.

Around 12 months of State Administrative Tribunal mediation and Design Review Panel discussions followed, before a scaled back proposal was approved at JDAP this week.

Sirona managing director Matthew McNeilly described the pathway to approval as long, frustrating and expensive, but said it was worth the effort.

“I’m very happy with where things have landed, and my focus now along with my team is to deliver a high-quality development that provides the type of apartments that South Perth deserves, and which adds amenity to the local community in ways that will both surprise and delight current and future residents,” Mr McNeilly said.

To win approval, Mr McNeilly said the tower had been reduced from 41 storeys to 37 to be consistent with other South Perth projects, despite the site being located in a zone with no height limits.

“We’ve also reduced the number of apartments to facilitate an intimate community of residents living in one, two, three- or four-bedroom sky homes – with almost all levels having only four apartments per floor,” Mr McNeilly said.

“Bigger complexes can feel less personal, and that’s what we want to avoid, especially in a tight knit community like South Perth.

“While not everyone will appreciate the concession we’ve made on height, we felt it was important to demonstrate to the community that we were able to re-align our thinking to deliver the best possible outcome under the current planning framework.”

Mr McNeilly said a sales campaign would be launched early in the new year, with interested parties invited to register their interest in the project from today.

“What we’re offering is high quality design, a totally new and thoughtful approach to a tower development, and South Perth is the right location for it,” Mr McNeilly said.

“I anticipate strong interest both because of the site and the fact the style of apartment we’re proposing suits the movement towards the live-work lifestyle where people are looking for alternatives to commuting by ferry or from a future South Perth train station to their workplace.”