By ANNA USHER

A $160 million plan has been revealed to demolish 12 Mosman homes and replace them with 130 apartments, just four of them affordable housing.

The homes, on Countess and Rosebery streets, were amalgamated and sold last year in a deal worth around $70 million, first reported by Mosman Collective.

The land is zoned R3 medium density. Under the state’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, a new block there is capped at six storeys and 22 metres.

This one proposes 28.6 metres, a 30 per cent increase over the limit, with a floor space ratio of 3 to 1, more than a third above the cap.

To reach those figures, a rezoning of the land is required.

Who is behind it

The developer is Capit.el Group, a Sydney firm known for luxury projects in Bondi Beach and Double Bay. It is part of the consortium behind the $1 billion redevelopment of the InterContinental hotel at Double Bay, approved in October 2025.

It is also active elsewhere on the lower north shore. With development manager Metis Group, Capit.el is behind a $1.2 billion plan to replace the Mandarin Centre in Chatswood, with a 32-storey twin-tower block of 325 apartments. The redevelopment of a waterfront building beside the Neutral Bay ferry wharf is also on the cards.

The Countess and Rosebery application was lodged by Capit.el Group, with Metis Group founding director Arian Galanis as the contact, and the paperwork prepared by consultancy Urbis.

What Mosman’s own plan allows

Because the project is a State Significant Development, its fate rests with the state, not Mosman Council.

The council has its own plan for the area. Weeks ago, Mosman councillors voted 7 to 0 to back the Mosman Masterplan, which directs the tallest towers, up to 25 storeys, to Spit Junction and the Military Road spine.

The Countess and Rosebery block sits within that plan too. The council marked it for about six to eight storeys. The developer’s proposal is higher than that, and higher than the current state limit, which is why it needs the land rezoned.

The council asked the state to exclude Mosman from the housing reforms while it finished its own plan. Planning Minister Paul Scully said no. “The policy is here to stay,” he said.

The project is at an early stage. The state issued its assessment requirements on 9 July. An Environmental Impact Statement comes next, then public exhibition, when residents can make submissions.

The biggest site in 25 years

Colliers, which ran the 2025 sale, called it the largest development site offered in Mosman in more than 25 years.

The parcel takes in 11, 13, 13a, 15, 15a, 17 and 17a Countess Street and 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 Rosebery Street. It has dual street access, district views and Middle Harbour water views, and is a 400-metre walk from Bridgepoint.

EDITORS NOTE: Despite being named in documentation on the NSW Planning website, the owners of 20 Rosebery St say they have no plans for their home to be redeveloped.

“We are the registered property owners of 20 Rosebery Street, Mosman. We have no contract, option agreement, or other arrangement with Capitel Group, Metis Group, or any related party, and we have given no permission for our property to be included in any planning application or development proposal, our land is not for sale and is not part of any transaction with these parties,” the owners told Mosman Collective.

“Despite this, we understand our property continues to be referenced in materials associated with the current SSD application (HDA EOI 274656 / PDA-127433738 / SSD-131129488), including the demolition of our house, which we have not consented to. We have raised this directly with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and Mosman Council.”

Mosman Collective has reached out to the Metis Group for comment.