By ANNA USHER

A group of century-old homes will be bulldozed to make way for an eight-storey apartment block worth $53 million under plans just submitted to Mosman Council.

If approved, the merged 2,316 sqm site at 89 – 101 Cowles Rd would provide 41 apartments and eight affordable homes in a building exceeding 31 metres, which is 2.64 metres above current guidelines.

Amenities include an indoor pool, sauna, spa, wellness rooms, rooftop terraces, gym, and dog washroom.

The build would include 69 carparking spaces.

Architects Giles Tribe Architects say the project would provide “housing choice for different demographics, living needs and household budgets”.

“All apartments provide a high-quality accommodation for a diverse range of residents and demographics,” the documents state.

“The proposal addresses housing affordability and housing supply shortage by providing an affordable housing component of 15 per cent.”

Cowles Rd Residence Holding Pty Ltd is the applicant. Company filings list Yang Liu, 41, as the sole director with a registered address in Castlecrag.

Records show Mr Liu is also behind a controversial development at 27–37 Bydown Street, Neutral Bay.

If approved, the Cowles Rd project will have 28 three-bedroom and 13 two-bedroom apartments. “The proposed landscape design requires removing 20 trees – 19 are of low significance, 1 is highly significant,” the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) said.

A heritage report prepared for the developer concluded the removal of existing homes would cause no heritage impact.

“These are ordinary interwar buildings of a kind which are not rare locally and have been affected by later 20th century alterations,” the report states. “Their demolition will have no heritage impact.”

The site is within the Spit Junction Town Centre “inner area” under the state Low and Mid Rise Housing policy, allowing six storeys, or eight if affordable housing is included.

With construction costs exceeding $30 million, this is a regionally significant development, so a state panel will assess it rather than Mosman Council.

Three weeks left to act

Mosman Council notified nearby property owners on 1 April. Submit your views by 30 April to make them count.

To participate, search DA reference PAN-621447 on Mosman Council’s online planning portal and make your submission.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Are you a Cowles Road local or an affected neighbour? Email [email protected]