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 buyer has now lodged its plans with the state.

Higher than the limit

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. It is also redeveloping a waterfront building beside the Neutral Bay ferry wharf.

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. Mosman Collective has contacted both companies for comment.

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 sale in 2025, 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 sits a 400 metre walk from Bridgepoint.