The wraps are starting to come off Sutherland Shire’s most maligned development, and the builder believes many critics will be pleasantly surprised.
Certainly, for those who have bought into the South Village complex on the former brick pit site at Kirrawee, there appears to be a lot to like.
Building company DeiCorp gave the Leader a tour of the development, which will comprise 808 apartments, a retail centre and 9000 square metre public park.
You will start to see the colour, the articulations in the facade of the buildings, the way they interact and the different types of architecture.
- Peter Neale, of DeiCorp
“With the covered scaffolding, all people are seeing is a big flat facade,” said DeiCorp’s sales and marketing director Peter Neale.
“As it is gradually unwrapped, you will start to see the colour, the articulations in the facade of the buildings, the way they interact and the different types of architecture.”
Senior site manager Bob Morrison said, when workers moved on to the site in August, 2016, “there was nothing here but a big hole, a lot of water and old bricks”.
“Where we are today is a pretty good effort in two years,” he said.
Stage one, comprising the retail centre and 250 apartments in three buildings on the edge of Princes Highway, is due to open by the end of this year.
The remaining apartments in four blocks are due to be completed by the end of 2019.
Just when the new public park on the corner of Oak Road and Flora Street will be opened is still a subject of discussion between Sutherland Shire Council and DeiCorp.
The size of the park, which DeiCorp says is a little under a third of the entire site, became apparent when viewed from the top of an apartment block.
This vantage point also showed the great views many residents will enjoy.
Every apartment will have a balcony, with large terrace balconies on some lower-level units.
DeiCorp says units on the highway are acoustically treated “so if you close the door you won’t hear a thing”.
Surprisingly, there is not a single swimming pool.
DeiCorp says it’s what residents want “because the beach is nearby and pools are costly to maintain and add to strata fees”.
The new L-shape retail centre will be anchored by a huge, “new generation” Coles supermarket, plus a Coles Online distribution centre in a cavernous basement where semi-trailers can turn around.
The retail centre will also include an Aldi supermarket and more than 30 specialty shops, including eateries in an al fresco dining area.
There were to have been 27 specialty shops, but Sutherland Shire Council decided in March to convert previously allocated community space into more shops, and use the rental income to fund other services.
A display apartment is included in the South Village sales office in Oak Road.