Urbis secures approvals for Circular Quay’s transformation projects

This project involved two towers fronting Circular Quay, between George and Pitt Streets, comprising a skyline-changing 185m, 57-storey residential tower and a 110m, 179 room luxury hotel as well as the redevelopment of 1,404sqm of public space including a series of laneways.

Urbis prepared a development approval strategy to address the complex planning approval pathway for One Sydney, which included facilitating the delegation of a State Significant Development DA back to the City Of Sydney, managing a series of existing approvals and planning agreements with the Council, and developing revised planning controls for the site.

By working closely with the Dalian Wanda Group and project architects, the team’s concurrent applications for the consolidated site were unanimously approved by the CSPC.

The recent approval revises the design of the previously approved residential tower and allows for the commencement of a Competitive Design Alternatives Process to be completed for the hotel in early 2016. Urbis will be managing this process and will work closely with the winner to prepare the detailed project application for this iconic project.

Dexus’ Gateway Building at Macquarie Place will see the redevelopment and refurbishment of the podium levels of the building, including an additional 2160sqm floor space to deliver an enhanced food and beverage based retail experience.

The team led by Planning Director Murray Donaldson and Associate Director Naomi Daley, prepared all associated planning applications for the main works and managed negotiations with critical stakeholders such as the City of Sydney and Transport NSW to solve construction constraints.

The Consent Authority waived the requirement for a Stage 1 DA and competitive design process in approving the project as the proposal was considered to demonstrate design excellence.

The project is now under construction and Urbis will continue to provide planning services, liaising closely with the builders BuildCorp and Codicote, Project Managers and the City of Sydney through to completion. The expanded and refurbished retail levels are due to open in October 2016.

Over the past four years, Urbis has been working closely with AMP Capital to explore various opportunities to reposition its global headquarters at Circular Quay. Re-branded as Quay Quarter Sydney, a strong emphasis throughout the planning and design phase was placed on connectivity, activation, mixed use and heritage conservation.

Through the provision of Planning and Heritage advisory services, Urbis has played a lead role in securing a site specific Planning Proposal, obtaining Stage 1 DA consent, coordinating an International Design Competition, along with an Expressions of Interest process for the Young and Loftus Street Block.

Recently, two significant Stage 2 DA approvals were secured for Quay Quarter Sydney. These related to the Quay Quarter Tower (50 Bridge Street), as well as for the redevelopment of the Young and Loftus Street Block New Buildings.

Whilst comprising of two city blocks, a consolidated ‘precinct-wide’ redevelopment approach has enabled the Quay Quarter Sydney project to strengthen connections between Circular Quay and the CBD’s main financial district.

One Sydney Project Team

Ashleigh Ryan, Senior Consultant
Planning
aryan@urbis.com.au

The Gateway Building Project Team

Audrey Marsh, Planning Assistant
Planning
amarsh@urbis.com.au

Quay Quarter Project Team

Adrian Villella, Senior Consultant
Planning
avillella@urbis.com.au