A $100 million plan to redevelop a low-rent apartment block in Potts Point has drawn backlash from residents and MPs, who warn it would worsen Sydney’s housing crisis.
Developer Time and Place, with billionaire James Packer among its investors, proposed demolishing the 10-storey Chimes building on Macleay Street, which holds 80 studios and one-bedroom units.
Potts Point’s Chimes faces demolition for luxury apartments
Now, the company seeks approval for a 13-storey tower of about 34 high-end apartments.
Relying on the NSW government’s affordable housing scheme, the project grants developers extra height and floor space if at least 15 per cent of homes are rented below market rates for 15 years.
While the Melbourne-based developer says it will meet that requirement, the overhaul has been met with fierce criticism.
MP Alex Greenwich blasts ‘perverse’ use of housing policy
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich condemned the plan as “the most perverse use of the affordable housing policy imaginable,” arguing it would slash 80 modest rentals to fewer than 10 affordable units.
He said the scheme was “essentially evicting essential workers to make way for millionaires” at a time when Sydney needed more affordable homes, not fewer.
Planning Minister Paul Scully defended the reforms, emphasising the plan was still at a conceptual stage. “If not for the government’s reforms, there’s every chance this project would have had no affordable housing in it,” he said.
Preservation group say Potts Point is becoming ‘another Point Piper’
Still, community opposition has flared. Almost 150 objections, including from the City of Sydney Council, warned of the loss of affordable housing, demolition of a valued building, and the “excessive” scale of the new tower.
Potts Point Preservation Group chairman Peter Sheridan said developers were treating the suburb like “another Point Piper.” He said that erasing 80 modest units for fewer luxury apartments “makes no sense at all.”
“They chase extra height, carve out views, and sell penthouses for $30 or $40 million, while the community loses its diversity,” says Sheridan.
Built in the mid-1960s, the Chimes is one of dozens of post-war blocks in Potts Point now under threat, in a precinct known for its Art Deco and modernist apartments.
Time and Place defends Potts Point plan as ‘high-quality’ renewal
Time and Place, however, insists a new tower in place of the “outdated” Chimes would be a “high-quality, well-considered development” that improves the streetscape and contributes to housing supply.
A consultant report prepared for the developer said technical analysis showed renovation would “result in a much poorer outcome.”
The developer gained control of the building through the 75 per cent strata rule, which forces reluctant owners to sell once three-quarters agree.
Among the owners was Gretel Packer, who held two units before the takeover.
The development team includes Time and Place founder Tim Price and former Crown Resorts executive Todd Nisbet, with Packer reportedly taking a 10 per cent stake, according to News Corp.
Luxury revamp mirrors Sydney’s wider housing crisis pattern
The controversy highlights a wider pattern in Sydney: ageing, cheaper blocks being torn down for fewer, larger, more expensive apartments.
In June, the City of Sydney introduced rules limiting “net dwelling loss” to 15 per cent. But those rules are not retrospective and won’t apply to the Chimes, which is lodged as a state-significant development.
Time and Place has suggested later designs could include more apartments and a greater proportion of affordable housing.
Until then, the Chimes remains a battleground for Sydney’s fight over who benefits from the government’s housing incentives, and who gets squeezed out.
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