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Welcome back to The Dirt, Australia’s go-to news brief for Australia’s up-and-coming property and construction players.

Today’s brief:

🏗️ Chatswood’s “nightmare site” reborn as $311M twin towers
💰 Cushman & Wakefield lands massive government property gig
☕ Caffeinated concrete hits Melbourne footpaths

Here’s what’s moving 👇

🏗 Project Pulse

Chatswood’s Nightmare Reborn as $311M Twin-Tower Angophora
The infamous “Nightmare on Anderson Street” site is back — with a serious glow-up. A $311M proposal by Aeon Residence Chatswood (Vakili family) will deliver 258 units across 33 and 23 storey towers, with 56 affordable units managed by Bridge Housing. Carter Williamson leads the design, reworking the failed Aeon scheme after a council competition win: The Urban Developer

South Perth Goes Luxe with $70M Tower
Blackburne has revealed a new 17-storey luxury play near the Swan River. Fifty-seven high-end apartments, private lounges, and health club-style facilities are in the works. It’s the second prestige launch for the WA heavyweight this quarter, following City Beach’s $200M green light: The Urban Developer

Sunshine Station Gears Up for Superhub Status
Melbourne’s west is finally getting the backbone it’s been promised. The $2B+ Sunshine Station upgrade — the anchor for the Airport Rail Link — is moving into procurement, with enabling works set to start in 2026. The six-kilometre stretch from West Footscray to Albion will be delivered in five packages, unlocking capacity for 40+ trains an hour and direct airport access. It's a critical hinge in the west's future growth — and all eyes are on how fast the dig actually moves. Completion due by 2030: Roads and Infrastructure Magazine

🚧 Pipeline Watch

Tasmania rezones for 10,000 new homes
A sweeping rezoning across Hobart just unlocked 615ha of land — enough for 10,000 new homes. Areas like Brighton, Sorell, and Clarence are in the frame, with transaction volumes up 20% QoQ. The state's message? Builders welcome, red tape out. A rare top-down land release in a market craving supply: The Urban Developer

Regents Park BtR Project Gets Green Light — But Slashes Affordables
Western Sydney’s latest build-to-rent push has cleared planning — with a major pivot. The $196M Regents Park scheme will now deliver 558 units across five buildings, but affordable housing has been cut from 50% down to 15% to align with new infill housing rules. That swap earned the developer extra floor space and height, unlocking another 2050 sqm of GFA. The 2.1ha site is 500m from the train station and currently houses a decaying cluster of warehouses. It’s one of several BtR masterplans reshaping Canterbury Bankstown, as the LGA eyes 14,500 new homes by 2029: The Urban Developer

Sherpa Keeps Surfing — Adds Sixth Tower to $1B Palm Beach Pipeline
Sherpa Property Group isn’t slowing down. Their latest move — Flourish Ovana — is a 12-storey tower in Palm Beach with 102 apartments, 596 sqm of ground-floor retail, and a rooftop packed with resort-style amenities. It’s their sixth project in the area and adds to a pipeline now north of $1 billion. HAL Architects is back with a curved design to echo the success of Flourish on Sixth, which racked up $110M in sales. The new build brings in 946 sqm of shared open space, four levels of basement parking, and a streetscape-focused retail pitch aimed at turning this slice of the GC into a vibrant daily-use precinct: The Urban Developer

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🤝 Deal Flow

Cavill Lane Sells for $31M in Surfers
A retail trophy in the heart of Surfers Paradise has traded hands. The Property Factory and Boston Global picked up Cavill Lane from Denwol Group after a hotly contested EOI campaign. The 96%-leased centre spans 4,344 sqm with tenants like ANZ and Steampunk. The kicker? Future value-add upside in a tourism powerhouse ahead of Brisbane 2032: Commo.

Surry Hills creative hub trades for ~$25M
A former warehouse turned gallery turned office in Surry Hills has sold after 33 years. Anchored by global music giant BMG Rights Management, architects, and design firms, this fully leased 1,978 sqm asset drew $1.36M in net rent, equating to a ~5.5% yield. Another tight-corner trophy in Sydney’s most creative postcode: Real Estate Source

💰 Money Moves

Cushman & Wakefield Wins WoAG Mandate
C&W secured two Work Packages under the Whole of Australian Government property services deal — one of the largest real estate contracts in Aussie public sector history. Services range from lease management to FM across office, retail, and residential assets. Canberra HQ, five-year term, full mobilisation now underway: Commo.

📜 Policy & Pressure

NT Government Hits Pause on Art Gallery Use — Calls for EOI Amid $100M Blowout
The Northern Territory’s flagship art gallery project is under construction — but its final use is now back on the table. With budget overruns topping $100 million, the NT government is launching a public EOI to find the “most impactful and cost-effective” operational model for the Darwin-based gallery, designed by Ashford Architects, Clare Design, and Hully Liveris. Completion is still slated for 2026, but the site’s long-term use could shift depending on who steps up. A multi-agency taskforce will lead the process, with government eyeing alternative funding to offset the blowout: Architecture,Au

Healthscope in Receivership — Hospitals Stay Open, But REITs Take a Hit
Private hospital operator Healthscope has collapsed into receivership, with 37 hospitals continuing operations under a $100M CBA-backed lifeline. Brookfield’s $5.7B bet is now scorched, and lenders have brought in McGrathNicol to manage the sale. But the deeper signal? Healthcare real estate isn’t bulletproof.

Landlords like HCW REIT and NorthWest Healthcare are now exposed to tenant fragility, and valuations may wobble. Analysts say this is a wake-up call for anyone treating health assets as ‘set-and-forget’ — tenant covenant matters, especially when the operator is PE-backed. Distressed hospital sales, lease rewrites, and strategic buy-ins are now on the cards. Expect a shift toward hybrid health precincts, public-backed leases, and mixed-tenancy resilience plays: ABC

Rosehill Mini-City Plan Voted Down
ATC members just blocked the NSW government’s plan to redevelop the legendary Rosehill Racecourse (home of the Golden Slipper) into 25,000 homes. The $5B housing proposal was shot down despite state backing — with 56% voting no. It’s a huge blow to Sydney housing supply — and a clear reminder that heritage and emotion still outrank density at the ballot box: The Australia

🔩 Build Intel

RBA’s $1B Asbestos Bomb Starts to Detonate
Sydney’s most expensive fix-up just filed its first development application. The Reserve Bank’s Martin Place tower — vacated after asbestos was found deep in the bones — is getting the first stage of its $1B remediation. Slabs, internals, and parts of the heritage facade are all on the chopping block. The true scale of the problem only emerged in 2022, blowing early estimates ($260M) out of the water. With $100M in annual rent now bleeding from the RBA’s pockets, they’ve committed to staying the course — full completion not due until 2029: The Urban Developer

Mosaic Breaks Ground on $310M Kangaroo Point Tower
Brisbane heavyweight Mosaic has kicked off construction on The Bedford — a $310M, 17-storey mixed-use tower at Kangaroo Point featuring 128 luxe apartments, Brisbane’s first Woolies in the area, a café, and a bottleshop. It’s the peninsula’s first proper tower in over a decade, with over 90% of stock already sold. Mosaic’s in-house delivery model is running at full throttle, with The Carter ($240M) already queued as the next Kangaroo Point drop. On the coast, The Sophia in Palm Beach is also underway — a $140M beachfront build that’s already moved 75% of its stock. Altogether, Mosaic’s sitting on a $2B pipeline across SEQ and adding more fuel this year: The Urban Developer

BildGroup Builds Footpaths with Coffee Concrete
No joke — BildGroup just poured 30 cubic metres of concrete using biochar made from spent coffee grounds. In partnership with RMIT and Dandy Premix, the trial replaces sand with carbon-rich material to reduce cement use. Stronger, greener, and aromatic. Expect more brew-to-build innovation: Roads and Infrastructure Magazine

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🌍 Market Reads

Tokyo Penthouse Sells for ¥9.5B
A four-bedroom penthouse at Marq Omotesando One in Shibuya just sold for a staggering ¥9.5 billion ($67M USD), setting a new per-tsubo record in Japan at over ¥50M (a tsubo is a Japanese unit of measurement that equates to 3.3 square meters). Developed by EQT and spanning the entire fourth floor, the 625+ sqm residence includes a private rooftop, spa room, pool, and three terraces — all served by private elevator. The deal underscores Tokyo’s rise as a global luxury real estate hub, with prices up 50% in five years while values fell in NYC, London, and Hong Kong. EQT still has one unit left: Bloomberg

Trump Golf Project in Vietnam Raises Eyebrows
A $1.5B Trump-branded development in Hung Yen has broken ground just three months after filing — sidestepping usual environmental and community hurdles. The resort will include two golf courses and hundreds of villas, with “maximum support” promised by Vietnam’s PM. Politics, power, and property collide once again: The Independent

A-Rod drops $1B on Dominican resort play
Baseball legend Alex Rodriguez is going deep into real estate, leading a $1B luxury resort development in Río San Juan. The plan: 577 villas and condos in a government-supported tourism play. A-Rod’s been investing quietly for years — this one could be his biggest swing yet: Caribbean Journal

That’s a wrap for today.
If you made it this far, you’re already ahead.

Catch you in the dirt,
— Team DIRT

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