Sydney's $2.8 billion development pipeline approvals in 2014
A record $2.8 billion worth of residential, commercial and hotel developments was approved by the City of Sydney’s chief planning body last year.
Some of the biggest developments approved include the $660 million AMP Circular Quay Precinct, two residential developments in the heart of the city that will be over 230 metres high, and the University of Sydney’s $97 million stage-one campus masterplan.
Other developments approved by the committee in 2014 included a $100 million hotel-residential development on Kent Street, a 25-storey mixed-use development on Clarence Street worth $89 million, and a $50 million hotel-to-residential conversion in Potts Point.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said these major building projects would help increase residential and commercial floor space.
“Sydney is thriving and in 2014 the Central Sydney Planning Committee approved 20 development applications worth a combined $2,792,972,230," she said.
Moore was particularly pleased a $25 million creative hub is being built as part of Greenland’s Bathurst Street residential development, and two new childcare centres will be built at a new development at 505 George Street in the city centre.
“This record year of private investment and development comes ahead of work beginning on the extension of the light rail network. The City has committed $220 million to this project, which will be the biggest change to Sydney’s transport in generations.
“The light rail project will give Sydney a world-class main street and support new flagship retail outlets, premium-grade office buildings, and cafés and outdoor dining. We’re already seeing businesses flock to George Street in anticipation of the benefits it will bring,” the Lord Mayor said.
In the City’s south, the Green Square urban renewal area saw a suite of development approvals worth $530 million, including a $142 million high rise building.
In the next four years, an estimated 10,000 apartments will be built at Green Square and the area will become home to 54,000 residents and 20,000 workers.
"We will invest $440 million in building a new town centre, a plaza and library, a new aquatic centre, a new childcare centre as well as parks and playgrounds,” the Lord Mayor said.
The Central Sydney Planning Committee meets monthly and determines major development applications worth more than $50 million.
The committee has seven members, including chair Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Councillors John Mant and Robert Kok, and NSW government representatives Gabrielle Trainor, Carolyn McNally and NSW government architect Peter Poulet.