Race in three for Pitt St station development
The race to build two new mixed-use towers in the heart of Sydney above the proposed Pitt Street station is taking shape.
Lendlease is up against Canada’s Brookfield and local firm Grocon for the rights to develop the properties.
The contest was foreshadowed by The Australian last month and now the three groups have been shortlisted. Preliminary plans have been lodged for new skyscrapers as more developers chase works around railway stations.
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The NSW government is selling rights to develop multi-billion-dollar towers above new metro stations in the CBD and North Sydney. Macquarie Group is advancing plans for towers above Martin Place station and an office project is planned for North Sydney.
Two towers will be developed over the Pitt Street station.
One is to be a 47-storey mixed-use development above the northern entry, on Park Street between Pitt and Castlereagh streets.
The other is for a 65-storey commercial or residential development above the southern entry, near the corner of Bathurst and Pitt streets.
NSW Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance last year said the aim was to replicate top offshore mass transit-oriented developments such as the Hudson Yards in New York and Paddington Station on London’s Crossrail.
Lendlease, which is developing entire precincts around stations in London and Brookfield, is undertaking the $1.9 billion Wynyard Place Sydney project above that gateway station.
Meanwhile, Grocon is head contractor on the $5 billion Central Barangaroo precinct in Sydney, which it is building with Scentre Group and Aqualand. A fourth, unidentified, consortium was not shortlisted for the Pitt Street station job.
The project, to be completed about 2024 when the metro is slated to start running, comes as developers line up for more work for above-station projects along the planned metro lines.
Dexus and Frasers have also proposed a new precinct near Central station.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
