Third.i previews Elevate at Crows Nest metro station in Sydney from A$980,000

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

September 26, 2024 11:50 AM SGT

Aerial view of Hume Place in the Crows Nest suburb just in Sydney (Picture: Third.i)

Australian property developer Third.i and joint venture partner, real estate private equity group Phoenix Property Investors (PPI), have begun previewing their latest development, Hume Place. It is a new mixed-use project on top of the Crows Nest Metro Station in Sydney’s Lower North Shore with an estimated gross development value of A$1.2 billion ($1.06 billion).

Hume Place will have 600 apartments. The first phase, Elevate, will have 130 apartments across a 17-storey block. It is the only phase with apartments for sale. The second phase of 470 apartments will be a build-to-rent (BTR) scheme.

“I think Elevate will resonate well with international buyers as it’s the only development at Crows Nest that is built above the metro,” says Luke Berry, director and co-founder of Third.i. “It’s great for those who intend to send their children to study in Sydney; they can live in the beautiful, safe suburb of Crows Nest, take the metro and be in the city in minutes.”

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From Crows Nest station, it is a four-minute ride to Chatswood, a multicultural area with many Asian eateries, seven minutes to Barangaroo on the northwestern edge of the Sydney CBD, and 10 minutes to the heart of the CBD, estimates Berry.

Elevate, a 17-storey block (right), has 130 apartments for sale. The other two blocks are build-to-rent apartments (Picture: Third.i)

Crows Nest Metro Station just opened in the middle of this year and is one of 18 new stations along Sydney’s Metro City and Southwest rail line. The new rail line connects Chatswood on the lower north shore under Sydney Harbour with the city’s CBD and Bankstone in the west.

Elevate at Hume Place began its exclusive Asian preview in Singapore on Sept 16, followed by Hong Kong on Sept 23 and Jakarta on Oct 1. Real estate consultancy Hardington Private has been appointed as the marketing agency for Elevate in Asia.

Third.i and PPI will officially launch the project on Nov 2, both in Sydney and internationally. “This is a unique and very limited offering with only 130 units available for sale at Elevate,” says Jacqueline Wong, executive director of Hardington Private. “It is a first-mover opportunity for both investors and homebuyers.”

Elevate sits on a podium about 21m above street level. Hence, the first level of the apartments is equivalent to the seventh floor of an apartment block in the area. “Units will have panoramic views of the Sydney Harbour and the Crows Nest neighbourhood,” says Berry of Third.i.

The apartments of Elevate have unblocked views as it’s a high-rise development in the low-rise Crows Nest neighbourhood (Picture: Third.i)

‘Village environment’

The podium has retail shops, a corner cafe, a wine bar and a bicycle storage area on the first level. There are two storeys of carparking spaces on the upper floors. Residents’ amenities include a 24-hour concierge service, a private lounge, a health and wellness spa, and meeting spaces. On the rooftop is a 20m lap pool with a view of the Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Barangaroo precinct.

At Elevate, apartments are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms and penthouses. Indicative prices for one-bedrooms range from A$980,000 to A$1.55 million. One-bedroom-plus-study units are from A$1 million to $1.7 million.

Two-bedroom units and two-bedroom with study range from A$1.62 million to A$3 million.

Three-bedroom units average about 117 sqm (1,259 sq ft) in size, and prices range from A$2.7 million to A$4 million. Sub-penthouses and penthouses start from A$5.5 million to about A$12 million.

Elevate will be a premium project, with international architectural firm Woods Bagot as both the project architect and interior designer of the units. “We expect high demand from right sizers,” says Berry of Third.i. “Many people want to downsize locally to Crows Nest because of its village environment.”

Wong of Hardington Private agrees. “Crows Nest feels very much like Singapore’s Holland Village,” she says. “And it has a very hipster vibe. When the entire Hume Place project is completed, it will be a new landmark in the area.”

According to Wong, most of the new apartment projects in Singapore that sit on top of MRT stations tend to have a 99-year lease. Elevate at Hume Place has a freehold tenure. The metro station entrance is just directly across the street from the development.

Elevate sits on a podium about 21m above street level. Hence, the first level of the apartments is equivalent to the seventh floor of an apartment block in the area (Picture: Third.i)

Premium for homes near train stations

CBRE Research’s October 2023 report showed that over the past decade (until July 2023), Sydney suburbs along the metro line have seen a 49% increase in capital value. For instance, the Sydney suburb of Crows Nest has seen capital value growth of 79% compared to 62% in the nearby Cammeray over that time period.

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In London, house prices near Canary Wharf and Paddington stations increased 31% after the announcement of the Elizabeth Line. CBRE believes there is a 6% uplift in capital value for every 10% reduction in commute time.

“When you look at cities all over the world — Tokyo, Dubai, London and even in Singapore, properties that are built above a metro station or transport infrastructure always show premium growth in capital values and rents,” says Berry of Third.i.

Ron Dadd (left) and Luke Berry, two of the three co-founders of Australian developer Third.i (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Fifth JV project with PPI

The second phase of 470 BTR apartments at Hume Place includes about 100 affordable apartments for healthcare workers in the Royal North Shore Hospital and nearby healthcare facilities. Third.i and PPI will be partnering with one of Australia’s largest community housing providers, Evolve Housing, on that front.

Third.i and PPI acquired the Hume Place site in a private treaty from the Sydney Metro and the New South Wales (NSW) Government for an undisclosed figure in December 2022.

Hume Place marks the fifth joint venture between Third.i and PPI in Australia. Earlier joint venture projects include Balfour Place, a luxury residential development in Lindfield; and Blue & William, a Grade-A office project in North Sydney, acquired by Keppel REIT in December 2021, with Lendlease as the project developer and manager.

Artist's impression of a unit at Dairy Farmers Towers, with 180 residences in Newcastle, a two-hour drive north of Sydney (Picture: Third.i website)

Over A$4 billion project pipeline

With Hume Place, Third.i’s overall project pipeline is over A$4 billion in Australia and the UK. Other significant residential developments include the completed Iconic, with just 76 units in a heritage factory building at Waterloo, Sydney; the upscale 24-unit Kurraba Residences at Kurraba Point in Sydney; and Dairy Farmers Towers, with 180 residences in Newcastle, a two-hour drive north of Sydney. In the UK, Third.i’s developments include an 80-apartment development at York Road in Battersea, London and Graphite Square, a mixed-use development with 161 apartments and co-working space over three floors at Vauxhall, South London.

“Crows Nest is a homecoming of sorts for Third.i,” says Berry. “When we started our business 20 years ago, our first office was in a little 50 sqm suite across the road from where the Crows Nest metro station is today.”

Therefore, Hume Place is “a legacy project” for the three co-founders of Third.i, namely, Berry, Ron Dadd and Rob Huxley. “This is our opportunity to really build something iconic and give back to the community that helped us launch our business and be successful,” says Berry.

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