Not so long ago, The Gateway apartments on the corner of Forest and King Georges roads provided an imposing entrance to Hurstville from the south-west.
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But the 12-storey landmark, which was completed in 2001, has been dwarfed by the new $99 million Highpoint development, which is rapidly taking shape behind it.
Giant cranes working on Highpoint's three towers of up to 18 storeys are a riveting sight for motorists approaching Hurstville on Forest Road from Penshurst.
Highpoint is being built by Toga Group on the former Dominelli Ford car yard site. Buyers flocked to purchase apartments when they went on sale in two stages in 2013.
A Toga spokeswoman said work was on track for all three buildings to be completed within one month of each other late this year or or early 2016. She said the 448 apartments were sold off the plan and the only units on the market were five resales, which Toga Sales & Leasing was handling on behalf of owners.
She said nothing had changed since 2013 when Toga Group general manager Fabrizio Perilli predicted investors would make up about 70 per cent of sales and many Asian residents would also seek homes as owner-occupiers.
The three towers, named Ruby, Pearl and Emerald, were described in marketing material as "the crown jewels of Highpoint's superb master plan".
Other features of the development include a large internal oasis garden and a rooftop sky garden to take advantage of the panoramic views of the city and Botany Bay.
The Forest Road site was derelict for several years before the development started in 2014, bringing complaints from some residents nearby it had become an "eyesore".
Resident John Wu, of Forest Road, responded in a letter to the Leader that it would "push Hurstville overdevelopment into a new extreme level".
"This development is not only going to have enormous negative impact on its nearby residents (loss of privacy and solar/view access) but also a negative impact on local traffic," he wrote.
"Its location is one of the main gateways for the Hurstville CBD and other western suburbs. It is already very busy during the day now."
The good old days
Joseph and Sally Hayek remember a different Hurstville.
They bought their single-storey house in Millett Street in 1976 where they raised three children a few hundred metres from where the Highpoint towers have risen.
‘‘It was much quieter back then and you could park on the street,’’ Mr Hayek said.
‘‘Now we have no parking for our visitors.’’
The couple understands the need for new homes to be built, despite the negatives.
Another resident, 92, who has lived in Millett Street for 57 years, said she was ‘‘not very happy’’ with the changes.
‘‘We raised six children here and they used to love it,’’ she said.
‘‘They could play on the street.
‘‘It was a good place to bring up a family but then what I look on as good is not what some people want these days — they have to have so much more.’’
Tony Rose, another long-time resident, said developers were constantly knocking on his door.
‘‘One time we found some people, who had walked in our front door uninvited, having a look around inside the house,’’ he said.
What do you think of Highpoint?
