SMH National – CBD
Packer v Packer as Gretel and James on opposing sides in Potts Point stoush
By Megan Gorrey
September 29, 2025 — 5.00am
Sibling rivalry has collided with the most characteristic of Sydney obsessions – housing, development and city views – on the tree-lined streets of Potts Point.
The billionaire children of late media tycoon Kerry Packer, James and Gretel, via their respective property interests, have found themselves linked to opposite sides of a squabble playing out from opposite sides of ritzy Macleay Street.
An artist’s impression of an earlier proposal for the Chimes site, which sought to replace 80 apartments. Credit: City of Sydney planning portal
On the western side of the strip, Melbourne-based developer Time and Place, which is backed by James Packer, is seeking approval for a $100 million proposal to knock down The Chimes building of 80 studio and one-bedroom units and replace it with a taller building of possibly about 34 apartments, including some affordable housing.
Across the road, residents in the 1938 art deco-style Macleay Regis building – where Gretel Packer has snapped up two apartments since 2017 – are miffed about the plan.
The concept plan is at an early stage, and Time and Place has said it is “passionate about redeveloping the site into a high-quality, well-considered development”.
Gretel Packer owns two apartments in Macleay Regis. Credit: AFR
But in a submission on behalf of its shareholders, the board of the Macleay Regis decried as “somewhat astounding” the proposal to “significantly reduce the current long-term and affordable housing stock in Potts Point” by bulldozing the Chimes.
The board said the existing units would be replaced by “exclusive apartments not just for the wealthy but the very wealthy”, while generating a “significant windfall for the developer”.
“Since the lockout laws were instituted in 2014, and the area has become safer, developers have been buying apartment blocks and redeveloping sites in and around Potts Point to create luxury housing for a select few.”
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The board was also unhappy about the prospect of the proposed redevelopment blocking views to and from dozens of west-facing homes in the heritage building: “It is essential that the view to this heritage item be preserved as well as views enjoyed from this building towards views of the city of Sydney be maintained.”
Gretel Packer, who is not mentioned in the board’s submission on the proposal, has reportedly been investigating plans to restore the Metro-Minerva Theatre in Potts Point after buying the site from developers for $26 million last year.
Meanwhile, the proposed Chimes development brings together an elite group of property identities. News Corp reported in June that Time and Place had development funding from Packer, and it had previously reported he had taken a 10 per cent stake in the Macleay Street project. Company records have shown Time and Place Chimes Pty Ltd has two directors: Tim Price, founder of developer Time and Place, and Todd Nisbet, a former Crown Resorts executive when it was run by James Packer.
Packer and Nisbet are no strangers to high-stakes development stoushes over lucrative city and harbour views. Both were still tied to Crown when the casino giant and developer Lendlease took the NSW government to court seven years ago in a bid to retain the much-vaunted views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from Packer’s dream Barangaroo casino tower. The drawn-out fight revolved around Crown and Lendlease’s concerns that their vistas would be blocked by development at the future Central Barangaroo precinct (those plans are still being finalised, but that’s another story).
Packer won that battle. Time will tell which side of Macleay Street prevails.