Mirvac has celebrated the topping out of the sixth and final building at its inner-Sydney mixed residential and retail development known as ‘The Finery’.

Once a factory housing electrical switch maker HPM Legrand, the almost 10,000sqm Waterloo site has been transformed into what has been described as an ‘inner-city oasis’, comprising 223 apartments and terrace homes, all surrounding a heavily landscaped central courtyard, which will eventually host an array of boutique retail outlets and eateries.

Mirvac’s head of residential, Stuart Penklis, says the Waterloo site told the modern story of Sydney.

“There is enormous pressure to house more people in closer proximity to existing amenity and this is driving the changes we are seeing in this important economic corridor,” says Penklis.

This design, says Penklis, represents a “different style of living,” and is the “coming of age of apartment living.”

According to Mirvac CEO, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, “First and foremost, we are building homes in a place where people want to live, close to the city and important infrastructure such as schools, universities, parks and shopping centres.”

Sitting firmly within the Green Square Urban Renewal Area, The Finery, she says, is all about making “productive use of the land” and is a “sophisticated and bespoke new urban development."

It is a style of development that Mirvac is “prioritising all around the urban fringe of Sydney,” she says.

This type of multi residential and mixed use / retail development is being replicated, says Lloyd-Hurwitz, “across a range of suburbs such as St. Leonards, Green Square, Sydney Olympic Park Canterbury, Harold Park, Marrickville and Schofields.”

Designed by Mirvac Design to create a village-like environment, the developer says the idea was to make it easier for residents to connect with each other and the broader community.

There is also a direct line of connection with the site’s history, with the buildings' materials influenced by Waterloo’s industrial past, with the liberal use of face brick and rendered concrete.

Completion of The Finery is expected in mid-2018, according to Mirvac.