Sydney will get a new town square under an ambitious multimillion-dollar plan by the City of Sydney to buy half a city block opposite the Town Hall and demolish the buildings for open space.
Yesterday it overcame the biggest obstacle to its goal, buying the Manchester Unity building at 307 Pitt Street for $19.1 million. It already owns the Woolworths building on the corner of Park and George streets, the Hotel Coronation next door and Park House on the corner of Pitt Street, which has a $10 shop on its ground floor.
The council is now only a few buildings short of being able to bulldoze the entire northern half of the block. Three of these buildings were sold at different times for a total of $19.4 million. A fourth building is split into strata title, with several owners, which may increase the cost of the dreamed-about Sydney.
Both Brisbane and Melbourne have squares opposite their city town halls, with the expansive King George Square in Brisbane and the narrower City Square in Melbourne used for public events.
But Sydney's existing square is sandwiched between Town Hall and St Andrew's Cathedral, serving more as an entrance to the underground railway station than as a host to civic functions.
The plan is for a park for ceremonial and everyday use that leaves open the possibility of a reconfigured railway station. Cafes would be used to break up the bare facades of the remaining buildings, including the Energy Australia headquarters.
If completed during her term, it will be the second park the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has secured. In June the council bought the former Water Police site in Pyrmont for $11 million.
"This is a long-term vision for the people of Sydney," Cr Moore said. "It will provide a legacy for residents, workers and visitors."
Preliminary plans show about 5300 square metres of open space at street level. Beneath the square would be a retail area, with the present supermarket retained. The council plans to rezone the area to preserve it for public use and "preclude any site amalgamation for redevelopment".
"Acquisition of all of the properties will be by negotiation, where possible, or failing a satisfactory negotiation, by compulsory acquisition," Cr Moore said.
But exactly when the dream will be realised is not clear, although the council, which will be taking in rents until the buildings are pulled down, yesterday suggested 10 years at most.
The square was first suggested in the 1980s and revived by former lord mayor, Frank Sartor, whose plan to put a library in a square on the site of the Woolworths building would have had to wait for its lease to run out about 2015.
But the retail giant has since announced plans to move its headquarters out of the city centre next year. Its general manager of property, Peter Thomas, refused to comment on the future of either the lease or the remaining supermarket because the matter was confidential.
The plan still requires a lot more money, and gives the owners of the Manchester Unity building a $7.7 million premium on what they paid for it in 1999.
Pittsway Arcade at 303 Pitt Street, last traded for $2.4 million in 1992. The building next to Woolworths, 542 George Street, was brought for $6.5 million in 1997. Henry Pollack, the founder of Mirvac, bought the adjacent Commonwealth Bank building for $10.5 million the same year.
The owners will be asking for a good deal more than those sums if they are to be convinced to sell.