A downsizer's dream: The elegant Neutral Bay apartments with house-like proportions. For buyers downsizing from a large family home into an apartment, a new project in Neutral Bay is offering a smooth transition with grand proportions and handsome finishes. Bay House by developers Rebel Property Group and Morehuman takes its design cues from the scale and rhythm of the heritage-conservation streetscape five blocks north of Neutral Bay ferry wharf.Architect Paul Buljevic, director at PBD Architects, says the facade of the five-storey building references the pattern of the structures that previously stood on the site.“Curved edges to pronounced projecting bays help soften the built form and lead people through the light-filled lobby, which frames the communal landscape beyond,” Buljevic says.“A brickwork podium provides strength, which is balanced against an elegant pattern of metal facade screening, sandstone cladding and timber highlight hues.”North shore downsizers are tipped to snap up many of the residences. The architecture and interior design have been crafted to create a sense of space and comfort befitting a family home.

An off-the-plan 300sqm-plus beachside sub-penthouse has secured the highest price ever paid for an apartment in the Sutherland Shire. With views of the ocean from South Cronulla to North Cronulla beach, the sale was secured by local agent David Highland at Highland Property Group. There are 38 apartments in the nine-level Ozone St complex that has a 2022 completion date with demolition of the existing dated unit blocks set for coming weeks. Its two top-floor penthouses had both been sold for $7.5 million, which at that time were records for ­Cronulla in 2018 and then 2019.The initial penthouse sale was to the Greer family from Taren Point.The project is being undertaken by brothers Allen and John, in partnership with Rebel Property Group, Ghassy Bayni’s Morehuman and Leda Living, the Ell family company which has felt the impact of the COVID-19 virus more than others in the industry.Following their late father, Paul, who built 200 prestige abodes, Sammut Developments have undertaken numerous Cronulla residential projects including Drift, Coast, Banc and Breeze since founded in 1993.Ozone includes a mix of one, two and three-bedroom layouts, with ­remaining apartments ranging in price from $1.1 million to $5.75 ­million.The previous off-the-plan record price for Cronulla was in the Wavelength development on Gerrale Street for $6.3 million.

Sydney has had a long history with apartments, dating right back to The Albany, completed in Macquarie Street in 1905. But which developments were ground-breaking? We asked Dr Charles Pickett, architectural historian and co-author of Homes in the Sky, to help us come up with the top five. Some were controversial, others inspired us to abandon the quarter-acre block. All of them changed the way we lived.Nowadays, almost one in three Sydneysiders call high-density living home. Here are five of the reasons why Sydney’s grand old dame, was squarely aimed at people who would once have lived in mansions with servants. The Astor was a landmark building in so many ways. It was the tallest residential building in Sydney, and first to be based on a concrete slab construction. The Astor was way ahead of its time. It had an internal telephone system, two elevators and a restaurant/kitchen in the basement from which apartment owners would order their meals.Sydney’s grand old dame, was squarely aimed at people who would once have lived in mansions with servants. The Astor was a landmark building in so many ways. It was the tallest residential building in Sydney, and first to be based on a concrete slab construction.There were 52 apartments in The Astor in 1923. That number is less today, as people have bought up adjoining apartments and aggregated them.It has since been joined with apartment 802 to create a massive 440 square metre, five-bedroom mansion flat, owned by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton.