Property Advert of the Week: Long Homes (1985)

Below is a 1985 newspaper advertisement from Long Homes. Display Homes could be inspected at Edensor Park (Fairfield), Macquarie Fields, St Andrews and Kingswood.

Source: Long Homes. 1985. "No repayments until June '85" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, January 12: 27.

1985: Saving the Brooklyn Hotel from demolition

The Brooklyn Hotel on the northwest corner of the intersection of Grosvenor, George and Bridge Streets was built in 1912 and was heritage-listed in 1980. The hotel also incorporates the Johnson Corner Buildings. 

In the 1980s, the Grosvenor Place development was approved. One condition of its development was that the Brooklyn Hotel, along with the neighbouring Royal Australian Naval House and Federation Hotel, be preserved and incorporated into the development, which included the 44-level/180-metre Grosvenor Place tower. 

On September 8 1985, fire swept through the building.

\  

Source: Anon. 1985. "Arson probe at historic sites". The Daily Telegraph: September 9: 3. 

Architect Harry Seidler and developers Kern Corporation submitted plans to demolish the buildings, citing fire damage and questions over its structural integrity. While this was withdrawn, the Minister for Planning and Environment Bob Carr, had to remind them that the restoration of the building was a condition of the approval of the Grosvenor Place development

 

Source: Glascott, J. 1985. "Seidler halts demolition on Grosvenor site". The Sydney Morning Herald, September 19: 5. 

In 1987, a second attempt to demolish the building was proposed for a public square. Carr had to remind them again that demolition was not permitted, and the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority also ruled that demolition was not allowed. That attempt failed.

Source: Hawkes, H. 1987. "Row over historic buildings". The Daily Mirror, February 16: 17.

The following year, it was announced that the buildings would be formally restored at a cost of $10 million. This was undertaken in 1989. 

Source: Bita, N. 1988. "$10m rescue for historic city buildings". The Daily Telegraph, September 15: page unknown.

1985: Old Como Bridge becomes a footbridge and cycleway

The Old Como Bridge spanned the Georges River between Oatley and Como. It was a single track railway bridge that served the Illawarra and South Coast Railway Lines from 1885 until 1972, when a modern two track bridge was completed next to the original bridge. In 1985, the old bridge was reborn as a footbridge and a cycleway. It was offically opened on 16 December 1985 by Federal MP's Gary Punch (ALP, Barton) and Robert Tickner (ALP, Hughes).

 

Source. Anon. 1985. "Spokes men bridge river gap". The Daily Telegraph, December 16: 7. 

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Chatswood's "Twin Towers" (1985)

Source: Anon. 1985. "Twin towers planned for Chatswood". The Sydney Morning Herald, October 10: 13. 

Welcome to Part Five in our current series of "never builts". In 1985, plans were released by Girvan to build a commercial development in airspace above the North Shore Rail Line at Chatswood. This encompasses land on either side of the rail line north of Help Street up to O'Brien Street and bounded by Railway Street (Western side) and Cambridge Lane (Eastern side).

It was planned that the towers would rise above the railway line and enable both sides of the Chatswood Central Business District to be connected.

Source: North, N. 1985.  "Chatswood Connections will be a place for people". The Northern Herald, December 12: 14.

Two office towers containing a combined 105 000 sq/m of space was proposed along with a hotel, retail space, landscaped plaza, convention centre and cinemas. The tall building heights would enable for maximum utilisation of the site for public use.

Revised plans were released in 1989. 

Source: Anon. 1989. "Five star hotel for North Shore". The Daily Telegraph, December 5: page unknown.

The following year, Girvan Corp Limited (Developer) went into receivership and the site was placed for sale. The towers would not be built. 

Between 2002 and 2013, Mirvac developed the vacant sites, including four towers and one medium density building. 

On the Railway Street side, three major apartment towers were built. A common area was built over the railway line for the residents of the buildings on either side. 

Altura (2003) - 25 stories/75 metres

Epica (2005) - 33 Stories/96 metres

Era (2013) - 43 stories/135 metres

On the Eastern side of the Railway line, Cambridge 24 stories/85 metres (2007) was built along with B2M in Cambridge Lane.

Above: Cambridge Tower.

Above: B2M

A pedestrian walkway was built to link both sides of the railway line which goes under the North Shore railway line. Public spaces were also provided. A small landscaped park is located between Era & Epica in Railway Street and a small plaza is located at the Corner of Cambridge Lane & Help Street.

Above: Railway Street Park.

Above: Public Plaza at the Corner of Cambridge Lane & Help Street.

This was a lost opportunity for Chatswood as the proposal would have been a destination in itself but also could have possibly attracted a major firm (especially today) in terms of leasing office space within the towers. It was a project that would have truely connected both sides of the suburb. The redevelopment of Chatswood Interchange in the 2010's has helped with linking both sides of the suburb but would not make the impact that could have possibly had occurred. 

Skyscraper Data featured in this entry was sourced from Emporis. Photos were taken by the Author in 2021. 

Property Advert of the Week: Harlequin Homes Advertisement (1985)

Below is a newspaper advertisement from 1985 by Harlequin Homes promoting their Exhibition Centre at Wetherill Park. 

 

Source: Harlequin Homes. 1985. "The Secret is Out" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, August 23: 29. 

1985: The end of the Anthony Horderns Building

In 1985, NSW Environment Minister (and future Premier) Bob Carr announced that the Anthony Horderns Building would be demolished, but the Mark Foys building would be protected.

The argument was that the building had become "derelict", was built with "sub standard materials" and "poor workmanship". Given its uses over the years (even as a carpark in its later years), the reasoning behind its demolition has to be questioned.

It also allowed for Ipoh to proceed with their proposal to redevelop the site and the block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Street into World Square. 

Demolition of the Anthony Horderns building occurred the following year.

Source: Glascott, J. 1985. "Hordern emporium for demolition". The Sydney Morning Herald, February 25: 5. 

EVOLUTION OF WESTFIELD MIRANDA: Westfield Miranda extensions (1984-1985)

The success of Westfield Miranda during the 1970's and increasing population growth across the Sutherland Shire led to Westfield deciding to embark on another expansion.

Farmers would be rebranded as Myer in 1976

In 1982, plans for extensions were rejected by Sutherland Council. The scheme proposed expansion over the railway line and into Karimbla Road.

During the same year, Myer purchased Grace Bros. In early 1983, Myer made the decision to withdraw from NSW citing poor sales and focus on growing the Grace Bros brand across the state.

Source: Anon. 1983. "New jobs for Miranda staff". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, February 16: 3.

The majority of Myer stores were converted to Grace Bros. Some stores were closed altogether e.g. Gordon.

As Grace Bros was already a tenant in Westfield Miranda, it was decided that Myer would vacate the space.

This allowed Westfield to subdivide the space once occupied by the store. You will notice that some of that layout still remains, even after redevelopment and upgrades in 2014.

Source: Anon. 1983. "Myer Miranda Fair to be redeveloped". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, May 11: 38.

In mid 1983, Harvey Norman moved into what was the top floor of Farmers/Myer and would remain there for a decade before moving to Caringbah.

The extensions and upgrades were completed in three stages - April 1984, August 1984 and March 1985.

Upon completion, Big W had moved in. Woolworths moved from level 2 to level 3. Best and Less and Franklins opened stores. Parking facilities were also expanded to extend over Wandella Road onto land behind Miranda Public School. The expansion of the carpark caused controversy.

The number of shops had doubled again - 160 retailers under the one roof.

One departure was the Miranda branch of Sutherland Library, moving to its current site in Wandella Road.

Below are some scans from The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader from 1984 and 1985 to promote the upgrades and selected advertisements.

April 1984 - Stage 1

August 1984 - Stage 2

March 1985 - Stage 3

Property Advert of the Week: Grovewood Home Corporation (1985)

In 1985, you could build on a block of land for just under $60 000, build a home with a mix or urban and rural design features.

Source: Grovewood Home Corporation Pty. Ltd. 1985 "Town and Country Living" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, August 23: 28.

Property Advert of the Week: Bonnyrigg land packages by Wimpey Homes (1985)

In 1985, Wimpey Homes had blocks of land on sale at Bonnyrigg for around $27 500. The median house price is nearly $800 000 today which is an excellent return.

Source: George Wimpey Australia Pty. Ltd. 1985. "Land Bonnyrigg" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, August 23: 28.

Property Advert of the Week: Dunbar Park Estate, Marsfield (1985)

Below is an advertisement for the Dunbar Park Estate at Marsfield which was developed by Mirvac in the mid 1980's.

Source: Mirvac Homes. 1985. "Untitled" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, August 23: 29.

The estate was named after Dunbar Park which is located off Sobraon Road, Marsfield. The estate does have streets named after Alan Bond, John Lexcen & John Bertrand who were behind the America's Cup Victory for Australia II in 1983.

1985: Rare Preview Feature on Australia's Wonderland

Just three months before Australia's Wonderland opened in 1985, The Daily Telegraph went inside "the Down Under version of Disneyland".

Source: Coombs, R. 1985. "A Down Under land of wonder". The Daily Telegraph, August 24: 23 & 23. 

Australia's Wonderland traded until April 24, when the site was redeveloped into a business park. There are plans for the theme park to be resurrected at a site in Western Sydney. 

It never evolved into the Aussie Disneyland that was envisioned. 

As a bonus, below is a video containing rare footage from opening day in December 1985, plus a short history of the theme park. It was presented as Seven News Flashback Report by Mark Ferguson in 2013 on Seven News.

Remember this: Winfield Cup Banner at Belmore Oval (1985)

I remember as recently as 2012, seeing the faded Winfield Cup Banner at Belmore Oval on the train heading to do volunteer work at a primary school.

Here is a Winfield Cup advertisement featuring the banner from its heyday in 1985. It was published in September 1985 in The Daily Telegraph but the exact date is not known.

EVOLUTION OF WORLD SQUARE: Kenzo Tange turns World Square into a Lotus Flower (1985)

Continuing on in our series in the evolution of World Square, we move forward to 1985, where a fourth tower is introduced into the World Square development. The idea of introducing a fourth tower was to make the towers form a lotus flower.

Source: Shanahan, S. "Four towers to replace Anthony Horderns". The Sydney Morning Herald, December 2: 2.

In 1986, the Anthony Horderns Building was demolished even though the $1 billion project had yet to be formally approved. In the same year, the NSW Government assumed planning control of the site. Planning and Environment Minister (and future Premier) Bob Carr was handed power to approve the development, which he did in April 1987.

Aubin, T & Coultar, M. 1987. "Approval for World Square". The Sydney Morning Herald, April 7: 3. 

By the end of the decade and the site had been dug to 30 metres below street level. On the corner of George and Goulburn Streets, one of the office towers (George Tower) was well under construction, with work beginning in December 1988. This tower would become 680 George Street.

Above: The office tower at the corner of George and Goulburn Street was under construction in 1990 when work stopped. This was taken in October 2002 just before work recommenced on its construction. Photos were taken by the Author.

However disputes with unions and workers would fuel the collapse of the project in mid-1990 and for over a decade, we would see inactivity at the site.

Next week we will look at the idle years at World Square and Hordern Towers. Then we will move onto the gradual formation of World Square as we see it today.