1964: The Royal Exchange Building closes its doors

1964 ended an era for wool trading in Sydney when the Royal Exchange Building held its last trades. The Royal Exchange Building was pulled down for 56 Pitt Street, a 28 level office tower which kept the name of the original building. However, the wool exchange did not return, despite the developers as a condition of approval for the tower, had to provide space for an exchange.

 

Source: Anon. 1964. "Doors Close on 100 Years' Trading". The Daily Telegraph, July 10:11.

The office tower was completed in 1966.

Watch this space...

It is interesting to note that the building is currently undergoing an exterior refurbishment despite plans to construct Australia's tallest office tower rising 305 metres tall to roof level. 

It would be the:

• Third tallest skyscraper in Australia. The tallest skyscrapers are Q1 on the Gold Coast (322 metres/78 storeys) and Australia 108 in Melbourne (317 metres/100 stories).
• Second tallest skyscraper to roof height in Australia. Australia 108 in Melbourne as mentioned above is 317 metres tall. 
• First skyscraper in Sydney to be at least 1000 feet tall.

Dexus is set to develop the tower and at this stage with a projected completion date of 2028.

Property Advert of the Week: 21 Harrison Street, Cremorne (1966)

Below is a newspaper advertisement promoting "Twenty-One" at 21 Harrison Street, Cremorne dating from 1966. It was advertised as being located in Neutral Bay given that its location is two blocks from the main shopping strip on Miltary Road. 

Note: Following the introduction of decimal currency in 1966, advertising goods and services in pounds, shillings and pence was permitted for two years following its introduction. 

As 

Source: Anon. 1966. "'Twenty-One' 21 Harrison Street, Neutral Bay" (Advertisement). The Sun, October 7: 46. 

2000: What to do with Sydney's vacant construction sites

In our Olympic year (2000), Sydney had to be looking its best i.e. tidy and looking nice and appealing to our global visitors. 

There was one problem that faced Sydney Lord Mayor Frank Sartor and Sydney City Council and it was impossible - reactivating empty construction sites.

A decade earlier saw Australia in economic recession. The property market was amongst the biggest victims as shown in the empty construction sites that remained in the city. Some construction sites such as 2 Park Street (Citi Tower) and Angel Place had developments completed in time or were close to completion.

World Square was around 75% undeveloped with Hordern Towers occupying a quarter of the site at the corner of Pitt and Liverpool Streets. The current sites of Ivy at Wynyard, Frasier Suites (George, Bathurst and Kent Streets), Emporio Tower (Sussex, Liverpool and Day Streets) were empty.

 

Source: Morris, L. 2000. "Sartor threatens whole lot of trouble". The Sydney Morning Herald, April 12: 9.

The site of Frasier Suites (former Regent Theatre) became home to temporary shops. Other sites simply received new hoardings. Meriton had just commenced its construction of World Tower at the corner of Liverpool and George Streets and was trying to complete as much as it could before September.

Source: Jamal, N. 2000. "New event in store for holes in the ground: Olympic aesthetics". The Sydney Morning Herald, July 4: 3. 

Source: Skelsey, M. 2000. "Dressing up city holes for Games". The Daily Telegraph, July 3: 13.

Property Advert of the Week: Homeworld II (1992)

I have previously shared newspaper advertisements for Homeworld II at Prospect from 1991 and 1993 along with a TV advertisement.  This advertisement for Homeward II was published in 1992.

Homeward no longer uses numbers for each new centre, but rather has opened villages in various suburbs across the Sydney metropolitan area, Central Coast and Hunter regions. One has opened recently at Box Hill, but also at Leppington, Marsden Park, Warnervale (Central Coast) and Thornton (Newcastle).

Source: HomeWorld II. 1992. "Now 88 homes under one roof." (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph Mirror, November 28: 8.

SYDNEY SHOPPING CENTRES: Opening of Macquarie Centre (1981)

 

Source: Macquarie Centre. 1981. "Macquarie Centre Now Open" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 17: 15. 

On Wednesday (17 November), Macquarie Centre will celebrate forty years of trading. After a decade of planning and two years of construction, the centre was opened by NSW Premier Neville Wran on 17 November 1981.

Last week, I focused on Grace Bros' plans for the centre and its attempt to seek approval to build their centre. This week, as promised, I would share promotional content from various newspapers.

Key Facts at opening

• Approximately 145 retailers
• 3750 car parking spaces
• Grace Bros, Woolworths and BigW were the major tenants
• The first ice-rink to operate in a shopping centre in Australia and can be covered to accommodate other uses such as tennis and ballet. 

The Sun featured a centre directory including maps to aid shoppers navigating the complex.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald (November 17, 1981) published this sectional view to show how it stepped up.

           

Source. Anon. 1981. “Macquarie Centre Sectional View: Looking West. Image. The Sydney Morning Herald, November 17: 13.

Below is a Grace Bros advertisement to promote their new store.

 

Source: Grace Bros. 1981. “Grace Bros at Macquarie: Opens Today - Styled For The Year “2001”” (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 17: 16-17. 

Below are some selected features from the newspaper supplements.

The Daily Mirror (16 November 1981)

The Sun (16 November 1981)

The Sydney Morning Herald (17 November 1981)

 

 

The centre forty years later

COVID-19 restrictions in recent months have made it difficult for any Sydneysider to travel around our great city and hopefully in 2022, can do a follow up post on the centre today by visiting the centre in person. I have not visited the centre since 2017 when I went there for lunch.  Photography of the centre will pose a challenge, especially internal shots. 

  

Property Advert of the Week: St Ives Land Release (1968)

In 1968, Parkes Developments were selling 1/2 acre blocks of land to build your dream home at St Ives.

According to the map, the lots were on sale in Palm Street, Hassell Street, Mawson Street, and what I think when compared with current maps would be Monterey Street, Ashlar Street and Wembury Road. I have included a Google Maps reference. 

$5000 would equate to the equivalent of $ 63 422  in todays money according to the RBA Inflation Calculator.

Source: Parkes Developments Pty. Ltd. 1968. "Land at St. Ives: (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, March 16: 39. 

SYDNEY SHOPPING CENTRES: The Conception of Macquarie Centre (1968)

Sourced from: Anon. 1969. "100 Super Shops: Grace Bros $12 mill complex".  The Daily Mirror, November 6: 2. 

Next week, I will do a special entry to focus on the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Macquarie Centre at North Ryde which will feature content from newspaper supplements that were published in 1981 to promote the opening of the shopping centre.

Ahead of next week, I share two newspaper articles from May 1968 when Grace Bros announced they had acquired 16 hectares of land in the area with the intention of building a regional shopping centre, and was seeking approval from Ryde Council to build the centre.

The Daily Telegraph (May 15, 1968) reported that the centre would be entirely "under-cover" unlike Roselands which they had built three years earlier with 600 000 square feet of retail space, containing 100 stores anchored by Grace Bros. If approved, the centre would open to shoppers by 1971 (Had this happened, I would be writing an entry celebrating 50 years of trade instead this year).

 

Source: Anon. 1968. "$12m. Shopping Centre Plan". The Daily Telegraph, May 15: 13.  

The Sun (May 15, 1968) in addition to the above reported that the centre would act as a "cultural centre" integrating itself with Macquarie University, which was located directly opposite the proposed centre but also for the northern suburbs.  

Source: Anon. 1968. "$12m Shopping Plan: 16 acre project near new uni". The Sun: May 16: 29.

Grace Bros were given approval to build in 1969 by the State Planning Authority after their proposal had been rejected by Ryde Council and decided to appeal the decision. At the same meeting, a proposal by David Jones to construct a rival shopping centre on Epping Road was rejected as their site was zoned for industrial use (Refer to my 2014 entry on their proposal for further details).

The Local Government Minister Pat Morton was convinced that the shopping centre would be successful drawing on Grace Bros success in planning, building and operating Roselands and felt it would be more successful (He would be right down the track). 

   

Source: Anon. 1969. "Approval for $12m. centre". The Daily Telegraph, November 6: 7.

 

Source: Anon. 1969. "100 Super Shops: Grace Bros' $12 mill complex". The Daily Mirror, November 6: 2.

Ryde Council gave their approval for the centre in 1972. 

 

Source: Anon. 1972. "$12m shopping centre approved". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 27: 1. 

Intended opening date was 1975 as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald on June 27, 1972 (see above). 

Construction did not commence until 1979. 

Property Advert of the Week: Empress Gardens, Hurstville (1999)

Below is a 1998 newspaper advertisement promoting the sale of apartments in the Empress Towers at Hurstville. One bedroom apartments were available from $175 000, "2.5" and three bedroom apartments from $280 000 and Penthouse duplex apartments from $380 000. 

Source:  Delta International. 1999. "You belong in Empress Towers" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 5, 30RE (Real Estate Liftout). 

1986: Harbourside, Darling Harbour Tenancies Advert

In August 1986, the operators of the Harbourside complex at Darling Harbour published a two page newspaper advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald on August 6 1986, to invite those who were keen on operating either one of four restaurants or one of the 32 speciality food outlets in the complex, which opened in 1988.

One page was dedicated to text while the second page featured artists impressions of the areas that would be occupied. 

You would not see advertising like it today in a newspaper.

We were promised good dining and they delivered. More than three decades later, they still deliver. For those who want a quick and/or cheap feed, their needs are accommodated with fast food outlets inside the complex.