Why Fortis chose apartments over office space in Darling Point
Apartments at the recently launch MONA development in Darling Point almost never existed.
The prominent eastern suburbs developer Fortis initially planned a commercial building on the Mona Road address, before pivoting the design to create a luxury apartment project.
And its recent launch showed two things; the demand for luxury apartments in Sydney's East is still firing on all cylinders despite a cooling property market, and the agileness of the Fortis team to change their strategy based on what the market is doing.
Fortis Director Charles Mellick says the team analyzed current market trends and the demand for luxury residential apartments, and that, paired with the 180 degree city and harbour views and accessibility to local amenity, made the location the perfect place for high-end city fringe living.
So they called MHNDU back in to amend the plans to incorporate just 24 one, two and three-bedroom apartments.
The change in direction paid off in spades at the recent launch, with CBRE securing sales of over 60 per cent of the building, including the $13.75 million, two-level penthouse.
Mellick says the Darling Point location provides a previously unseen opportunity for buyers with direct access not only to the harbour foreshore, but also to the city and surrounding villages.
"This location has an array of unrivalled connectivity from walkability to a range of transport options and access to driving routes to connect to the rest of Sydney seamlessly.
Mellick calls Darling Point the gateway to the East, at the nexus of Edgecliff, Woollahra, Double Bay and Potts Point.
"This location benefits from its nearby neighbouring suburbs giving the best of both worlds - an energetic urban local energy (Potts Point) and Australia’s most luxurious offerings (Woollahra and Double Bay) with the commercial convenience and easy access to Bondi Junction and the City.
"Rushcutters Bay Park and Marina create a great local amenity for locals and visitors alike."
The new MHNDU plans retained the ground level retail, which Mellick says will home a "sophisticated and experienced food and beverage tenant", something Fortis has successfully achieved previously in Double Bay, where they brought celebrity chef Neil Perry to their HQ at the base of Pallas House on the exclusive Bay Street.
Mellick says so far there's been a mix of owner-occupiers and downsizers who have come from the Eastern Suburbs (Elizabeth Bay, Bellevue Hill, Rose Bay) looking at the two and three-bedroom residences, as well as a number of owner-occupiers coming from the Lower-North Shore (Killara and Linfield) as well as the Inner-West.
