Welcome to Part 4 of our series on the redevelopment of East Circular Quay.
The Story so far...
Redevelopment plans for East Circular Quay date back to 1979, with plans unveiled to build an apartment block at 35-37 Macquarie Street. Construction commenced and was reported as "under construction" throughout the first half of the 1980s.
Plans for the Opera Garden Centre scheme were unveiled in 1984 by Lend Lease to redevelop the entire block and build two major towers at the southern end while constructing a lowrise development on the remainder of the block with the Royal Botanic Gardens extended to Circular Quay through burying Macquarie Street.
In 1983, Molena Holdings bought Unilever House (Current site of 1 Bennelong) for $22.8 million in 1983 and in 1986 unveiled plans to convert the office building into a hotel.
This week, the focus continues on 1986, and the Opera Garden Centre scheme was still in planning mode.
The 1986 Scheme
The first mention of the 1986 scheme was in The Sun Herald on March 16 1986.
Source: O'Hara, J. 1986 "Circular Quay plan draws fire". The Sun Herald, March 16: 17.
The Sydney Morning Herald, on March 17 1986, reported on it as if it were something new altogether.
Source: Grealy, M. 1986. "Businessmen have $1 billion plan for Opera House Precinct". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 17:
The next day, The Sydney Morning Herald published a feature including a photo of Mr Forgan with a model of his proposed development. The 1986 scheme proposed one tall tower of 56 levels (down from two smaller towers in the 30-40 storey range), a six-star hotel, along with a "huge" shopping complex. The Botanic Gardens would be extended over Macquarie Street as originally proposed.
Source: Grealy, M. 1986. "The Forgan vision of Circular Quay". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 18: 2.
As for the landholders on Macquarie Street, they felt that it would not happen, which time would eventually prove right to them.
Source: Grealy, M. 1986. "Owners doubt chances on Circular Quay project". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 19: 3.
Next Week, I will revisit Unilever House and its proposed conversion into a hotel and the demolition of the building.
Entries in this series:
No comments:
Post a Comment