In 1991, the average price of a home in Sydney was $183,000 which is miniscule by todays prices.
However one home buyer managed to secure a home in Tempe that same year for just $40,000. Even after renovations estimated at $35,000, the home buyer would still have a bargain on his hands.
The home featured in the article is located at 34 Barden Sreet, Tempe.
Source: Howe, M. 1991. "$40,000: Sydney's cheapest home". The Daily Telegraph Mirror, November 19: 7.
Below is a 1970 newspaper advertisement promoting two projects by Stocks and Holdings Projects that was published in The Sun.
Source: Stocks & Holdings Projects. 1970. "Untitled" (Advertisement). The Sun, January 2: 39.
The two projects featured were"
Below is a 2006 newspaper advertisement promoting apartments for sale at 2 Ian Street, Rose Bay. The complex comprises only six units.
Source: Joycrest. 2006. "2 ian street" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, July 1: 23A (Domain Apartments Liftout).
Below is a 2004 newspaper advertisement promoting apartments for sale in the Waterpoint complex at Shepherds Bay (Meadowbank). It is directly opposite the Meadowbank Ferry Wharf, enabling residents an easy ferry commute into the city and a short walk to Meadowbank Railway Station.
Source: Coles. 1981. "Pie & Chips" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, August 31: 27.
In 1981, Coles Restaurants were offering for $1.25 a Superpie and hot chips
According to the RBA Inflation Calculator, the offer would be equivalent to a person spending about $6.17 today. Fantastic offer.
For soft drinks, there was a special offer during the school holiday period: refills cost just 30 cents. It would be equivalent to spending $1.48 today, which, depending on your view, may be a good value for money or not worth it. Typically, if you want another drink at a fast food outlet or a fast casual restaurant, you would pay full price, e.g. a large drink at McDonald's costs $6.00.
I came across a Seven News Sydney commercial from 1986 while viewing a video from the VHS Revue Channel on YouTube by David M. Green.
According to David, the advertisement was screened during the miniseries Christopher Columbus on July 16, 1986, on Channel 7 (ATN-7).
The thirty-second commercial features the repeated jingle:
Sydney you deserve the best, Seven News
Towards the end, you hear Seven National News Presenter Ross Symonds say the following:
Sydney's a great city. It deserves the best news coverage
The final frame features the key presenters of its news programs (Clockwise from top):
This is the last entry in our current Visions of Sydney Series. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup currently being held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, I recently came across a 2006 article from The Daily Telegraph. At the time, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) proposed a centre of excellence for Australian Football to support the development of football sides such as the Socceroos, Matildas, and Olyroos.
The proposed site was E S Marks Field at Moore Park
It was a good proposal. It would have allowed other sports to continue using the facility, including Athletics and Rugby League, but it never got off the ground.
Australia is one of four nations in the 2026 World Cup that does not have a national base or centre of excellence. However, it has been reported in recent months that it is exploring the option to create such a centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
Source: Smithies, T. 2006. "Sydney to get a field of dreams". The Daily Telegraph, April 11; 40-41.
Next Week, Remember This? will return for its mid-year run.
In 1968, Parkes Ideal Homes sold homes that could be built on your own block of land for $7390. According to the RBA Inflation Calculator, this is equivalent to spending at least $115 100 to build your own home.
Their display village comprised 23 homes located at Dryden Avenue, Carlingford.
Source: Anonymous. 1963. "A look into the future". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 17: 15.
Over the years, I have come across a few clippings relating to proposals to redevelop the blocks adjacent to Circular Quay Railway Station.
In 1963, the Sydney Cove Area Development Committee unveiled a proposal to redevelop the blocks immediately to the South of Circular Quay Railway Station. This included the construction of skyscrapers around the height of the AMP Building in the blocks adjacent to Circular Quay Railway Station, i.e., north of Bridge Street. Customs House would have been preserved as part of any redevelopment of the area.
The model was displayed for two weeks in the vestibule at the Sydney Town Hall.
The residents of Bennelong Apartments have not had the best week, following news that the State Government is easing restrictions and regulations on hosting events on the Sydney Opera House forecourt.
Below is a 1999 newspaper advertisement promoting apartments for sale in the building itself.
Source: Colliers Jardine & Jones Lang LaSalle. 1999. "Bennelong Apartments" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 27: 31A (Domain Liftout).
Sourced from: Grace Bros Bondi Junction. 1968. "See Bondi of the future" (Advertisement). The Wentworth Courier, November 13: 19.
Back in 2014, I posted an entry which would appear under Never Built Sydney, focusing on a 1968 Exhibition at Grace Bros, Bondi Junction, involving University of New South Wales Architecture students displaying their visions for Bondi in the year 2000.
I have posted this entry under Visions of Sydney as it aligns with "never builts" or future visions for redevelopment of suburbs that never proceeded or were early or alternate schemes or in this instance, university students predicting how Bondi may look over thirty years into the future.
Below is a newspaper advertisement from Grace Bros showing one of the proposed schemes. It is the same featured from the article I posted back in 2014, but with Ben Buckler in the foreground. Its familiar midrise unit blocks would not have survived. It would have been completely rebuilt from scratch, incorporating a mixture of residential and tourist development. Having a hotel located there would have utilised not just the views of the beach, but also those of the ocean. If the idea had evolved into a real proposal and then been built, it would likely have been amongst Sydney's most famous hotels, simply for its headland location.
Source: Grace Bros Bondi Junction. 1968. "See Bondi of the future" (Advertisement). The Wentworth Courier, November 13: 19.
And there is one feature from The Wentworth Courier (20 November 1968) that either shows another scheme or could be part of the initial scheme. I think the featured model could be one of how Campbell Parade may have been envisioned as looking in the year 2000.If so, much taller, larger buildings were predicted line the strip than in 2000 and 2026, six decades later.
Source. Anonymous. 1968. Untitled. The Wentworth Courier, November 20: 4.
Related Entry
NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Bondi of the Future Exhibition (1968)
Below is a 1971 newspaper advertisement promoting homesites at Hobartville, near Richmond. homesites were on offer for from $4300, which is equivalent to one spending around $51 150 today (RBA Inflation Calculator).
Source: Proud Projects Pty. Ltd. 1971. "Sewered Land" (Advertisement). The Sun, September 17: 69.
Below is a 1964 newspaper advertisement promoting a land release at Engadine. It is not explicitly stated in the advertisement as to where in the suburb the land release was located, but interested buyers were to meet a sales representative at the intersection of (old) Princes Highway & Railway Parade (Princes Highway). This is the intersection where KFC Engadine is located today.
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| An artists impression of the redevelopment scheme. Full citation below. |
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| The site as it looks today, with the St Leonards skyline rising in the background. Photo taken by the Author (2025). |
This is the last entry in the current batch of the Never Built Sydney series.
Strathfield Plaza opened in 1981. The completed retail complex incorporated mixed-use development above it, with a nine-storey office tower and a 13-storey apartment tower rising from a four-level podium containing the shopping centre and parking garages. This made it one of the earlier Sydney retail complexes to combine shopping, office and residential uses within the same development.
Source: Anonymous. 1969. "$13m plan awaits Minister's ruling". The Sydney Morning Herald, July 12: 8.
In 1969, plans for the centre were more ambitious. An early scheme proposed two 25-storey apartment towers rising above a four-level retail podium. Even the plans for Strathfield Plaza were ambitious, with space to be allocated for a department store.
Had the 1969 scheme been realised, apart from the high-rise towers themselves (and they would still have stood out at 29 levels), Strathfield Plaza might have emerged as a serious competitor to Westfield Burwood, particularly if a major department store had occupied the space. At the time, Farmers was the anchor tenant at Westfield, so its competitors - Grace Bros, David Jones and Waltons could have made a presence in the centre had the 1969 scheme been approved, and Inner West retailing would not be what it is today.
Below is a 1992 newspaper advertisement for Chelsea Court in Surry Hills. Two bedroom apartments were on offer from $260, 000.
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| Full Citation Below |
The Metro Edgely Consortium (Multiplex and Edgely Family) were the owner of Luna Park in 2004. In January 2004, just over two months prior to reopening the amusement park, the park proposed a plan to renew the site. This included a 14-storey office tower on the hill adjoining the park, designed by architects Denton Corker Marshall.
The argument for the tower, to be built alongside a cinema complex within the amusement park, would ensure the park's financial future.
Source: Richards, S. 2004. "Dim view of latest Luna Park fun and games". The Daily Telegraph, January 30: 13.
Residents opposed the project on the grounds that it would block views. There was also support towards the site acting as a park and a restaurant to be built alongside the park
Plans for the tower were rejected in 2005 by NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor, who approved a seven-storey building on the site instead.
No building was ever built on the site. It became Northcliff Park, which was opened in 2019.
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| Above: Northcliff Park. Photo taken by the Author (2021) |
Below is a 1971 newspaper advertisement promoting the sale of homes in the "Lani Gardens" complex in Bexley. Prices for villas started from $19,750, which would be equivalent to around $272,000 today (RBA Inflation Calculator).
In 1978, the NSW Government announced plans to construct what would become the Regent Hotel (now Four Seasons Hotel), one of Sydney's most prestigious and famous hotels. The hotel was opened in 1982 with 531 rooms.
Did you know that the 30-storey hotel had a different design proposal when it was announced? Below is a 1978 article from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Source: Anonymous. 1978. "$40m luxury hotel planned for Quay". The Sydney Morning Herald, August 23: 10.
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1 O'Connell Street, as we know it, was designed by Peddle Thorp Walker. The 36 level/166 metre tower was completed in 1991 and is topped of by a spire inspired by spires on other Sydney buildings such as the Queen Victoria Building and Lands Department Building. It replaced the CSR Building, built in the 1960's and was demolished to make way for the tower.
However, this may not have happened as an earlier design for the tower did not consider a spire, but rather a much more standard roof.
Not proceeding with this scheme was a good decision, as Sydneysiders were rewarded with a tower featuring a notable architectural feature. The site itself commands never to be built views, meaning that any tower built had to be a focal point. Peddle Thorp Walkers' design achieves it.
Source: Chancellor, J. 1987. "Highest high-tech floors may notch $850 sq m". The Sydney Morning Herald, December 8: 33.
In 1964, homesites were on offer at Mt Pritchard for a deposit of £10 ($20) or £850 ($1700) each. According to the RBA Inflation Calculator, this is equivalent to about $ 30,000 in today's money.
Mulgoa Road likely refers to what is now known as Elizabeth Drive.
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Did you know that 2026 marks 40 years since Sydney Ferries revived the green-and-yellow livery that adorned the ferries in earlier decades of the 20th century?
The reason for its introduction was that the First Fleet Ferries, to replace the older Lady Class Ferries, were funded by the Australian Bicentennial Roads Development (a misnamed fund) as part of transport upgrades for the Bicentennial, which was held in 1988. It was meant to symbolise that the Federal Government funded the ferries, not the State Government.
Source: Coultan, M. 1986. "Ferries let us see colour of their money". The Sydney Morning Herald, February 19: 4.
They would replace the dark blue and off-white livery of existing ferries.
The successor Lady Class Ferries (post-1968), along with the Manly Freshwater Class Ferries, would eventually be repainted green and yellow.
Ferries introduced during the 1990s and 2000s, including the Jetcats, Rivercats, Harbourcats and Supercats, did not adopt the green-and-gold livery during their working lives.
Since the introduction of the Emerald Class Ferries in 2016, every new Sydney ferry entering service has adopted the green and yellow livery along with the Minicat, River and Parramatta River class ferries. In 2026, 100% of Sydney's ferry fleet will be adorned in green and yellow.
