‘Downsizer territory’: Who’s moving into Hyde Park’s apartment boom?

Sydneysiders have largely shied away from living in the city’s centre but one part of the CBD may soon be exclusively residential, according to a local real estate agent, as thousands of new apartments are slated for the coming years.

In mid-July, Lendlease acquired 175 Liverpool Street for a $2.6 billion luxury residential project with 300 apartments opposite Hyde Park, an area finding favour among north shore downsizers and wealthy expats.

A 55-storey apartment complex and hotel at 201 Elizabeth Street, on the corner of Park Street, has recently passed the City of Sydney’s planning committee, and plans for a “twin towers” mixed-use residential project with 600 apartments at 338 Pitt Street are afoot, after developer Billbergia purchased the site with a lender in January.

Meanwhile, Cbus’ 111 Castlereagh building, a 22-storey shiny tower on the old David Jones site, is due to be completed this year.

Ray White’s Michael Lowdon predicts there will “soon be no commercial buildings around Hyde Park”, given the demand for luxury residential property.

Lowdon has sold several apartments in The Hyde, a 35-storey tower at 157 Liverpool Street. He says the typical buyer is an owner-occupier couple aged over 60 who have just retired.

“It’s very much downsizer territory,” he said. “We don’t tend to get many people from the eastern suburbs but we do get people selling houses on the upper and lower north shore.”

He expects 175 Liverpool Street up the road will “sell like hot cakes” as buyers prioritise the amenity of living on a large park above harbour views, pursuing the parkside city lifestyle prized in London and New York.

“People are willing to compromise on that postcard view because the park is a lovely setting,” he said.

“There are a lot of dogs in these buildings. They are attracting people who want to have that lifestyle, with the park.”

There were 16,534 private dwellings in the Sydney 2000 postcode, which also includes significant residential areas at Haymarket and Millers Point, at the 2021 census, an increase from 12,687 a decade earlier. The number of CBD residents increased from 22,760 to 27,936 in that time.

The City of Sydney estimates about 3200 central Sydney dwellings have been built over the past five years. There are about 5000 more in the pipeline.

Planning Minister Paul Scully has expressed enthusiasm for more Sydney CBD apartments but he has said they should not come at the expense of commercial space.

David Milton from SRM Residential, which is selling units in the under-construction Hyde Metropolitan at 133 Liverpool Street, says the mix of people moving to Hyde Park includes local professionals wanting convenience, and migrants “who see the city as the centre of things”.

But he agrees downsizers are the biggest market.

“They might have teenage children who are about to move out soon, or they’re empty nesters,” he said, noting concierge services are important to this group.

“They want for guests to come over and for it to not be difficult,” he said.

Having himself moved into the area a year ago, Milton says being close to the eastern suburbs and the north with good public transport links are all drawcards.

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