High-rise rescue to create 500-plus rental flats

One of Sydney’s most newsworthy apartment entities and another more notorious name have come together in an odd marriage of convenience to complete more than 500 apartments and ease the rental squeeze in the city’s North-west.

Leading Australian developer and construction group ALAND, has taken over the troubled former Toplace development, previously known as Skyview, at 51-53 Old Castle Hill Road, Castle Hill.

ALAND first came to public attention when it was developing the building next to Mascot Towers. Cracks in that building forced the evacuation of all its residents but ALAND denied vehemently that its work had contributed to the deterioration of the Mascot Towers block.

At the other end of the city, Skyview was refused an occupation certificate back in 2021, when then NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler – brought in after the Mascot and Opal towers evacuations – intervened to stop residents from moving into the two completed towers of the apartment complex after cracks were uncovered in the shared basement.

That ban was eventually lifted, on condition that defects would be rectified under supervision, but work stopped on the rest of the scheme after the company collapsed and was placed in administration, with owner Jean Nassif fleeing to Lebanon allegedly owing hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the intervening years ALAND has achieved a sought-after iCIRT gold star rating from the NSW Building Commission and now it has agreed to complete the final three Skyview towers and fix any defects in the shared basement of the project.

Andrew Hrsto, the owner and founder of ALAND, told the Daily Telegraph that construction will be completed in under two years and eventually provide more than 530 new build-to-rent homes. Those apartments will not be available for purchase until 10 years have passed.

“It is currently 25 per cent completed. We need to do quite a lot of remedial work to get it right. And then the basement also needs a lot of reinforcement. To be frank, it would be a lot easier to have a clear block of land and start from scratch” Mr Hrsto said.

Recently retired, David Chandler – who was involved in the negotiations –described the deal as a “pivot point” for the industry and was pleased that an iCIRT Gold rated developer had taken over the project.

“This is a real pivot point for the industry,” he told the Daily Tele. “The project – which has just been sitting there – has been a shadow over the industry. It’s a relic of the past, of what we want to leave behind us,” he said.

ALAND was appointed following a comprehensive selection process by receivers KordaMentha and will now work closely with the Building Commission NSW to complete the construction of the Castle Hill complex.

The completed development will provide a total of 964 apartments housing 2500 people, and upon completion, buildings C, D and E at Castle Hill will be offered as rental homes with 532 apartments providing housing for 1500 tenants and their families.