Breathing new life into Bondi Junction

3 months ago 19

Editorial

December 4, 2025 — 5.08pm

Sydney’s chronic housing shortage crisis offers developers a guilt-edged guarantee that if they build, they will come. But Bondi Junction is torn between homes and offices in the race to meet the Minns government’s target to relieve the accommodation crisis.

Waverley Council wants to balance retention of its historic commercial core that was turbocharged nearly 50 years ago when Bondi Junction Plaza was built with the need for higher-density residential development through an overhaul of neighbourhood plans.

The municipality plans to turn Bondi Junction from a transport interchange and retail hub into a residential, business and late-night precinct.

The municipality has started public consultation on a draft “vision statement” to transform Bondi Junction from a transport interchange and retail hub, centred on the sprawling Westfield shopping centre, into a thriving residential, business and late-night precinct.

The “Beyond Bondi” statement has identified problems including limited vibrancy after dark; disjointed links between the transport interchange, Oxford Street Mall and nearby streets; sparse greenery and heat-prone public spaces; a lack of affordable and diverse housing; and a narrow economic base dominated by retail. Public feedback also highlighted a strong desire for more cafes and restaurants.

The statement, which councillors will vote to place on public exhibition next week, will inform a master planning process next year to determine potential changes to zoning and planning rules.

Liberal mayor Will Nemesh believes there is room for both residential and commercial blocks but says councils in metropolitan Sydney contemplating build-to-rent developments within a retail core faced concerns about the possibility of housing eroding commercial viability.

Labor councillor Paula Masselos says replacing employment space with residential development risks Bondi Junction losing its status as a commercial centre.

Similar quandaries face North Sydney, Parramatta and Macquarie Park as councils contemplate reforming commercial centres to help meet the Minns government policy of 377,000 new homes in NSW by mid-2029. Bondi Junction provides about 80 per cent of housing stock in the Waverley local government area and the council has a target to deliver 2400 homes by the Minns deadline.

There is also another reason to go for housing over offices.

The demand for housing is running hot, but the commercial property market has cooled considerably since the glory days of 2019, when investments broke through the $20 billion mark for the first time in Australia. The office sector has yet to recover from the shift to remote and flexible work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and uncertain business conditions are prolonging the pain.

Even after COVID-19, Bondi Junction has remained a 9-to-5 world that dies after the shops and offices close and the sun goes down, with empty streets that hint of danger and cry out for a vibrant nightlife of restaurants and cafes.

Compared with other CBDs hoping to change their acts, we think Bondi Junction is in the box seat to expand its residential capacity while assuring developers that they can’t lose. Not only is there easy access to public transport, but Bondi Beach is just a 12-minute bus ride or a 26-minute walk away, a des res pretty much unavailable elsewhere in Sydney.

Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.