Milsons Point

Milsons Point/Lavender Bay is bounded by the suburb of North Sydney, Middlemiss Street and Lavender Street in the north, generally by Ennis Road and Broughton Street in the east, Lavender Bay in the south and generally by the suburb of McMahons Point and Miller Street in the west. Milsons Point is named after James Milson, an early land owner. It was previously known as Murdering Point. Lavender Bay is named after the boatswain, George Lavender.

Development of the area dates from 1805 when the first land grant was made, with land used mainly for grazing. Some growth occurred in the 1830s, following the establishment of ferry services across the Sydney Harbour. Subdivision and sale occurred during the 1850s with a number of large stately homes built overlooking the bay. 

Parts of the information contained in this article has been derived from North Sydney Council web site.

Further growth occurred from the 1890s, following the establishment of a tram service and the opening of the North Shore railway line. Then continued in the early 1900s, although some houses and public buildings were demolished in the mid 1920s to make way for the approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Some growth occurred from the 1930s, following the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The most significant development occurred in the post-war years.

Development has continued in more recent years, with the dwelling stock nearly doubling between 1991 and 2001. Milsons Point/Lavender Bay has experienced a massive increase in population between 1996 and 2001, a result of new dwellings being added to the area, especially medium and high density housing.

Many of the commercial buildings constructed during the 1970s and 1980s have been converted to high density residential apartments with a small portion of commercial and retail component. New high rise towers were also constructed up to 21 floors and many of the apartments enjoy spectacular views of the Harbour, the bridge and Opera House.

This trend that began in the boom time of the late 1980s has continued in Milsons Point almost unabated as one building was completed another commenced construction. Refurbishment of office buildings and construction of brand new building has been very popular with most of the large residential development companies such as Mirvac, Walker development and more recently Platino Properties converting the old Yellow pages building in Glen Street.  Mirvac has just completed an amazing conversion of 55 Lavender Street, Milsons Point and achieving prices per square meter never seen before in Milsons Point . The increase in the supply of property has not reflected on the prices as many predicted, in fact, on the contrary: values have continued to increase throughout the 1990s and well into this decade.

Rents have also kept a good pace, as with modern secure buildings close to major transport facilities, Milsons Point has been sought after by professional people and corporate tenants for their executive staff. Since the early 1990s the demand has been consistently high. 

Some of the properties are exposed to unreasonable noise levels from Luna Park, have had their rents devalued since the most recent opening of Luna Park, also the tenants tend to stay for shorter periods as the noise gets to them after a while. This of course has a direct relationship to the values of property. Properties that are affected by the noise will have lower value than those that are not. That is until when and if Luna Park shuts down, for the last time with a little luck and common sense.

Milsons Point/Lavender Bay is nearly surrounded by parks. Starting from the west with Watt Park around Lavender Crescent down to Railway Avenue, then at the Lavender Bay Wharf is the small Quiberie Park connected to the bay side walk way around Lavender Bay past Luna Park and all the way to Kirribilli passing under the Harbour Bridge.

Then there is the newly landscaped Bradfield Park, considered one of Sydney’s most important public spaces,  stretching from the corner of Lavender and Alfred Streets hugging the railway line past Milsons Point station and continuing all the way down to the harbour under the Bridge, the recent children's playground on the corner of Alfred and Fitzroy streets is a splendid addition by North Sydney Council.

The beauty of Sydney Harbour is the main attraction of wanting to be residents of Milsons Point; but that is not the complete picture: the accessibility to good private schools in Kirribilli and North Sydney, the recently re-established parks and children’s playgrounds, the trains, buses and ferries, the beautiful walks along the Harbour and the Olympic swimming pool are all contributing factors for the demand to live in Milsons Point & Lavender Bay.  

St Leonards

The Municipalities act of 1858 brought with it the proposal to incorporate the parish of Willoughby and the township of St Leonards. For North shore residents theirs was a much neglected area with street like kangaroo tracks. William Tunks was the first mayor of St Leonards when it was proclaimed in June 1867. The council had to deal with roads, the problem of sewerage disposal and pollution of Harbour waters by industry.

The name St Leonards originally applied to the area from the present suburb of North Sydney to Gore Hill; the township of St Leonards laid out in 1838 is now North Sydney, the Municipality of North Sydney was constituted in 1890. The present St Leonards lies to the north west of the original township. The oldest railway station on the North Shore line, St Leonards opened in 1890. The line originally ran from St Leonards to Hornsby, so passengers traveled from St Leonards to Milsons Point ferry terminal by horse-bus. Around the turn of the century passengers alighting at St Leonards were confronted by a eucalyptus forest. The red, white and blue gums, all in flower, combined with the sweet aromas from the citrus orchards. The suburb was named to honor English statesman Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney of St Leonards. 

North Sydney Local Government Area Statistical data

The North Sydney Council Local Government area, covering 10 sq. kilometers, incorporates a Central Business District (CBD) for commercial use and two high-density mixed-use centers (St Leonards and Milsons Point).

There are also established and emerging main streets, and diverse residential areas, in which 86% of the population (which the Preliminary Estimated Residential Population for 2006 gives as 61,401) is over the age of 18. While 42% are in registered or de facto marriages, 20% (twice the Sydney Statistical Division's [SSD] average) live alone. The population may be described as wealthy, with over 35% earning more than $1000 per week, according to the council’s website.

The population is highly mobile. Nearly half of all residents rent and, over a five-year period, over 65% move to a new address. The dwelling density is higher than in most other parts of Sydney and is increasing. 71% of residents live in medium-density housing (units, townhouses, semis and terraces) compared to the SSD's 29%.

St Leonards Town Centre

The area described is bordered by the Pacific Hwy to the south, Chandos Street to the North, Herbert Street to the west and Oxley Street to the east. This report concentrates on this area named: St Leonards Town Centre.

Under North Sydney LEP 2001, this area is substantially situated within Mixed Use Zone. The zoning encourages a diverse range of living, employment, recreational and social opportunities. It aims to create a vibrant neighborhood centers with safe, high quality urban environment with residential amenity, and to maintain existing commercial space and allow residential development in mixed use buildings with non residential uses at the lower levels and residential apartments above.

St Leonards Town Centre is linked to the city and other part of Sydney Region by rail, bus and road. Existing community facilities meet the center's working and resident population, visitors and residents of nearby neighborhoods, in terms of wellbeing, culture and recreation; and add to the diversity and activity of the centre. Public transport, walking and cycling, is the main form of access to the St Leonards Town Centre. Parking is adequate; and  managed in a way that maintains pedestrian safety, the quality of public space and built form, and minimum traffic generation.

Building Heights and Commercial Floor Space Ratios

The highest point for the Mixed Use Zone is starting at the railway station with two existing Towers: Forum and Forum West, the building height then cascades down to towards Oxley Street. The most recent developments have been 40, 33 and 26 meters high buildings.  The plan and table above show the deferent requirements of FSR for commercial components in each section of St Leonards Town Centre.

Major New Developments

For the past five years many new Mixed Use developments have been completed and there are few more approved; and some are still on the drawing board. Clearly, this concept of mixed use has worked very well in St Leonards. The apartments sold very well from 2002 to 2004. however, sales since have been very slow. Some owners have been forced to sell by their financiers as they could not afford the cost of retaining the property as prices for near new properties fell in 2005 and 2006. Prices have now returned to pre 2002 levels and rents are much higher hence the gross returns at times exceed 5%.

Commercial spaces have generally struggled all along, many of these new buildings have about two levels of commercial space with a small component of retail on the ground floor. Prices have fallen and sales have come to a standstill. It will take some time before the available space is taken up. The following table contains some of the buildings containing residential units.

Building name           Address          Residential units        Commercial units

Nexus                    15 Atchison St                88                               14 lots

Arden                      48 Atchison St              105                              11 lots

Forum (Low tower) 1 Sergeants Lane     333                     Commercial&

Forum ( High tower)                                    151                       retail centre

Forum West              3 Herbert St               291                        as above

Linea                         2-4 Atchison St          100                   Ground shop + 1 level

Habitat                      11 Chandos St            79                                  8 lots

Aria                            38-46 Albany St           49                                2 levels

Abode                       599 Pacific Hwy          197                              2 levels

Trinity                        1-5 Albany St                 85                                8 lots

There are approximately 1500 apartments contained in the above list, these buildings were completed over the past two to five years. There have been more recent smaller buildings completed not included above.

Over the past two years there has been a small number of smaller flat construction taking place due to the downturn in the market. However, very  recently, a new one is under construction in 45-49 Chandos Street (see photo) and another two major buildings have been approved by North Sydney Council in Atchison Street. 

New property is attractive, as the supply has virtually stood still for the past two years; and on the other side, the demand is increasing: many more investors are returning to the residential market in St Leonards in the 2nd half of this year, encouraged by the strength of the rental market and the relatively low prices for quality modern apartments.

Interestingly, owner occupiers and more particularly first time entrants are constituting a good portion of buyers. Young, educated Generation Y are taking full advantage of the First Home Benefits (see Tania’s Article); saving thousands on their entry costs, buying good property with due diligence.

This level of activity will inevitability put pressure on prices over the next 12-24 months if it is sustained, but for now there are good value properties on offer for those with an eye for good property.