Mirvac's 37-storey, $250 million Sydney office block proposal awaits final approval

Mirvac's proposed 37-storey Sydney commercial building now faces its final approval processes after its public exhibition closed yesterday. 

Mirvac anticipates permission soon to demolish the existing George Street office block as its seeks construction to begin by December. 

Mirvac Group is reportedly set to include the new tower in a mooted $1.3 billion unlisted office trust, which will offer a 50% stake in four assets in a bid to attract more equity into its funds management business from international investors, according to a recent report by the Australian Financial Review.

The George Street project has been designed by Johnathan Redman of Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, which won a design competition for the scheme.

The $250 million FJMT-designed development (architectural impressions below) will provide 43,270 square metres of floorspace including ground-level retail.

It emerged after six selected architects – Architectus; Bates Smart; Collins and Turner; Fitzpatrick + Partners; FJMT; and Woods Bagot – were invited in September 2011 to partipate in a competition for its architectural design to meet the target construction cost budget of $215 million.

It was concluded by the judging panel that its achieves warmth in materiality and character in the podium and tower forms that will result in definitive and elegant architecture.

"The building’s podium is one of its key strengths and recognises the site’s mid-block character by providing a respectful and strong street wall.

"The curved tapering end to the street wall also provides a strong reinforcement at the human scale of the ‘kink’ in George Street at this juncture (opposite Essex Street) and also purports to draw pedestrians along the site and through into the future public square," the judges concluded.

It comes with a through-site pedestrian link between George and Underwood streets, an enhanced Crane Place, along with the allowance for the future connection of a laneway between Dalley Street and Herald Square.

The site has frontages to George Street, Dalley Street, Underwood Street and Crane Lane.

The SMH commercial property editor Carolyn Cummins initially reported last year that Westpac might take the space, but more recently she's noted its likely leasing by Ernst & Young.

 

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The site, near Circular Quay opposite the Four Seasons Hotel, has been consolidated by Mirvac over the past decade since paying $17.5 million for the initial Dalley Street holding. The 188 George Street office block cost $43 million in 2003 when bought from AMP Life and the 190 George Street premises cost $24 million in 2003.

The 190 George Street office premises were associated with the Equitilink team, led by Brian Sherman and Laurence Freedman, who took up space in 1995.

Mirvac's application says the proposed development will contribute towards strengthening Sydney’s role as a globally competitive city by supporting business activities and ensuring adequate capacity for new and upgraded office accommodation in the CBD.

Upon completion, the final project will replace existing buildings with poor ESD performance with a new building that will achieve a five-star green star rating and five-star NABERS energy rating.

It will enhance the physical appearance of the site by providing a new building that achieves design excellence, "in place of outdated 1970s/1980s buildings".

It enhances the building’s relationship with the ground plane and surrounding public domain fostering the vitality of Sydney's historic network of laneways.

Click to enlarge

Set some 200 metres south of Circular Quay, the site has an area of 3,147 square metres and contains a former Telstra exchange building.

The design follow a September 2008 council-commissioned NSW government Architect’s Office urban design study for the entire block bounded by Alfred, Pitt, Dalley and George streets (referred to as the APDG block/site).

It notes the proposal incorporates commercial and retail uses and therefore assisted with restricting residential development to the northern end of the APDG site.

The proposal provides for the development of one of the three high-rise towers earmarked for the APDG site, however the proposed tower footprint does exceed the 42% building envelope control in order to achieve a typical floor plate net lettable area (NLA) greater than 1,200 square metre.

Its notes providing a minimum 1,200-square-metre NLA floor plate is required to meet the "premium-grade office building" classification in accordance with the PCA design specification for new buildings (2006).

Mirvac's consultant, JBA Design, maintains development proposed contributes towards reinforcing Sydney as the best place to work through establishing a new commercial office address that offers a dynamic and flexible work environment.

The developers suggest public transport patronage will be maximised through locating infill commercial development at appropriate density within walking distance of extensive public transport connections.

“Walking and cycling will be encouraged as a result of the proposed development through provision of a significant numbers of bicycle parking spaces (workers and visitors) and provision of end of trip facilities for workers,” the application says.

Mirvac was granted approval for a stage 1 development application by the City of Sydney Council for the 190-200 George Street and 4 Dalley Street site in November 2008.

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