Developers circle Sydney Fish Market
Heavyweight property developers are eyeing construction of thousands of apartments on prime Sydney harbourfront after the Baird government reached a deal with fishmongers to move the Sydney Fish Market from its inner-city Pyrmont site.
Local developers Brookfield Multiplex and Lend Lease could be joined by Singapore’s Oxley Holdings as interested parties for the project, although any development is likely to incite acrimony from other developers who had earlier proposed apartments and from local residents.
The property, which began operating as a fish market in 1945, has had a colourful history, with several failed attempts at developing the site over the past decade.
The new market will be built next door on industrial land occupied by the Hanson cement quarry.
An artist’s impression of a revamped Sydney fish market.
Describing the current market as “tired and run-down”, Premier Mike Baird says the new market will include levels under the waterline, mooring for the city’s fishing fleet and more than double the retail floor.
The $250 million cost for the development, which Sydney Fish Market expects will drive the number of visitors to six million a year, will be offset by offering the current site and car park to developers for apartments and commercial projects.
Neither Baird nor Planning Minister Rob Stokes was able to confirm the apartment development’s height, nor how many dwellings there could be on the site.
The Labor opposition immediately accused the government of selling off public land without providing details.
The Sydney Fish Market is set to be redeveloped.
Stokes says there are no “concrete plans” about the apartment development nor has the government entered negotiations with any individual for the project.
Chinese developer Dahua, which had proposed a $3 billion development on the site, sold its Bank St site next to the market to John Camilleri of the Baiada Poultry family for $21 million earlier this year.
Oxley, a Singaporean outfit with a portfolio of projects in Britain, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, earlier this year confirmed interest in the site, suggesting it could work with Brookfield Multiplex on the development.
Dahua and Brookfield declined to comment.
– with Ben Wilmot
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
