18 Oct 2018

Convicts, concert goers and city commuters have all passed through Sydney’s gateway. Now, as more than $3 billion in private sector investment pours into Circular Quay, the precinct is poised for reinvention.

Circular Quay is undergoing a new wave of development. Six significant commercial, residential, hotel and transport development projects are in the pipeline, including Lendlease’s $1.5 billion Circular Quay Tower, AMP Capital’s $1 billion Quay Quarter and Mirvac’s new skyscraper at 55 Pitt Street.

Together with a ferry terminal upgrade and the unfolding Light Rail, Circular Quay is rolling out a new welcome mat.

Circular Quay is Sydney’s front door.

Tim Blythe View Profile

“Circular Quay is Sydney’s front door,” says Tim Blythe, managing partner at Urbis. The current development projects feature “inspiring new architecture”, the restoration and celebration of our early colonial history, street-edge activation and new public spaces and laneways,” he says.

But Blythe says the precinct currently lacks ‘kerb appeal’.

“The waterfront promenade is congested, cluttered and unappealing. The wharves and the waterfront, and their connection with the wider precinct, are the missing piece and the greatest opportunity of all.”

In 2015, the NSW Government earmarked $200 million to upgrade the Circular Quay ferry wharves and is now exploring renewal beyond the wharf in partnership with the private sector. Transport for NSW is sifting through tenders before deciding to proceed with a full precinct renewal or simply a wharf upgrade, with a decision imminent.

Meanwhile, $3 billion-plus in private sector investment is already underway, with Lendlease, Mirvac and AMP Capital currently driving development.

The above is an excerpt from Property Australia. Click here to read the full article.

Tim Blythe was keynote speaker at the Property Council of Australia NSW division event, ‘The Transformation of Circular Quay’, held Friday 26 October 2018. View his presentation below.