Over the past two months, I have posted about the drama just to build on the site which lasted nearly two decades. It took eighteen years from the release of the first proposal before the site was developed.
Coincidently, it has been eighteen years since the complex was opened to the public.
What have the past eighteen years been for the complex?
As for the tower itself, it has been popular with commercial firms attracted by premium grade office space. As of October 31, 2018, only level 8 was vacant. It's just not the quality of the office space that attracts the tenants, but also the location. It is nearly right above Town Hall railway station with direct access to the station, and easy walk to Pitt Street Mall, Hyde Park and Darling Harbour.
The Galeries Victoria has become a popular shopping centre within the Sydney CBD. It may lack the history or prestige of the Queen Victoria Building and Strand Arcade, it has shone in its ability to innovate how people shop in central Sydney.
The Sydney Arcade introduced Sydneysiders to enclosed laneway shopping, but the Galeries Victoria provided multiple laneways that connects to a square in the centre of the complex. Apart from escalators and staircases, skybridges were also constructed to link shops in each section.
In the square itself, there is a full height atrium, which allows natural light to filter in, even in the shadows of nearby towers.
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| 2 Park Street rises over the full height atrium of The Galeries. |
With the retailing offering itself, it has also been innovative focusing on lifestyle, fashion and dining. JB Hifi opened their first CBD store in the basement level over a decade ago. Since then another four JB-Hifi stores have opened in central Sydney.
It is the only CBD shopping centre that has a furniture store - Muji. Freedom Furniture traded for a number of years as well. There are also retailers trading in the centre that you may not find elsewhere e.g. Kinkoyounya.
Finally the former Sydney Mechanical School of Arts Building (1836) is home to the popular Arthouse Hotel which opened in 2001.
I wonder what the next eighteen years will bring.
Previous Entries in the Series
- Original 1982 Scheme
- Park Tower (1986)
- Skytower (1987)
- Park Plaza (1988)
- Park Plaza IV (1988)
- Park Tower (1990)
- Park Tower II (1994)
- Citigroup Centre (2000)
Update on Photo hosting Issues
As mentioned a fortnight ago, I have had to change the photo hosting location of images featured in this blog. Since then, all posts from 2014 have been checked and all images are available again for each entry. I am now working through posts from 2015.
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