Sydney’s Harbourside Shopping Centre to get $1bn revamp
Mirvac has outlined plans for a dramatic $1 billion revamp of the Harbourside Shopping Centre at Darling Harbour via the NSW government’s controversial unsolicited proposals scheme.
The Berejiklian government will assess the developer’s plans to transform the ageing shopping centre into a mixed-use development including offices and luxury apartments as well as a revamp of the retail areas.
The move is part of an overhaul of Pyrmont that includes The Ribbon project by Grocon, backed by Chinese company Greaton, and the International Convention Centre, the centrepiece of the $3.4bn redevelopment of Darling Harbour undertaken by a Lendlease-led consortium.
Across Darling Harbour, plans for a $2 billion office tower over Cockle Bay Wharf, led by the owners of the Darling Park complex, were approved last year. The government is considering a metro station in the area.
The move comes ahead of new rules to be released by the NSW government in the wake of the Greater Sydney Commission’s review of Pyrmont’s building guidelines last October. The rules were found to be outdated.
Last November, the industry was rocked by the shock rejection of The Star casino’s plans for a hotel and luxury apartment tower. That $529 million mixed-use project drew the ire of the NSW Planning Department and the state’s independent Planning Commission.
Under Mirvac’s Harbourside revitalisation proposal the company would turn the existing centre into a mixed-use retail, commercial and residential development that will include public domain works.
The commission found the planned 237m tower and podium, which was to comprise a 220-room, six-star Ritz-Carlton hotel and 204 luxury apartments, was inconsistent with the area’s strategic planning and rejected its excessive scale and height.
But Mirvac is hopeful about its plans for the shopping centre it bought in 2013 for $252 million. Last year it switched tack from an apartment tower to an office building above the centre.
The latest plans for Harbourside appear to be more ambitious and would help put the 1988 complex on par with the new convention centre and the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. Mirvac’s proposal indicates that developers are willing to forge ahead before the NSW government sets down a new regime for the precinct.
The Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz company has stepped up its development pipeline since raising $750 million in mid-2019. It has won the over-station development project at the planned Waterloo metro station and is buying a build-to-rent tower near Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market.
The company has also been linked to residential sites, including the Channel 9 headquarters at Willoughby on Sydney’s north shore.
The government said that it had “agreed that the proposal described … in concept form, is of sufficient interest to warrant further development and progression to a more defined project”.
Under Mirvac’s Harbourside revitalisation proposal the company would turn the existing centre into a mixed-use retail, commercial and residential development that will include public domain works.
Mirvac would separately obtain all relevant planning and environmental approvals.
The government noted the proposal had potential benefits including rejuvenation of Darling Harbour, the opportunity for greater activation of Darling Harbour and Pyrmont, increased pedestrian amenity, significant new and improved public domain and publicly accessible space and improved connectivity.
“The actual benefits of the proposal will need to be further quantified and compared against costs as part of a financial analysis and economic assessment, which will be completed as part of the Stage 2 assessment,” the government said. “This position may enable it to deliver a retail, commercial and residential precinct that, on balance, cannot be readily delivered by competitors.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
