NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Mid City Centre Office Tower (1989)

For the next ten weeks, I will present a new series of "Never Builts" in Sydney. My collection in this area continues to grow.

Source: Chancellor, J. 1989. "Developer shelves $350m Mid City tower". The Sydney Morning Herald, April 18: 25. 

This week, I have selected the Mid City Centre Office Tower that was proposed in 1989. The current 34 level office tower at 420 George Street was completed in 2010 along with a new retail complex in its podium, bearing the same name as its predecessor.  It replaced the original Mid City Centre retail complex which opened in 1982 and was designed to accommodate a future highrise tower.

In 1989, plans for a 36 level office tower were shelved due to "oversupply" in the Sydney CBD Office Market and it led to disputes between the owners of the complex, City Freeholds Pty. Ltd and their tenants over the state of the complex.

Source: Totaro, P. 1989. "Brawl over Mid City Centre redevelopment plans. The Sydney Morning Herald, April 19: 8. 

It was not the first highrise tower that was proposed for the site. In 1971  a 46 level office tower was proposed by Tjuringa Securities Ltd. Click here to view an entry on that proposal which was published last year. 

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: 420 George Street (1971)

Full Citation Below

Welcome to the last entry in our current series of "Never Builts"

The first proposal to build an office tower at 420 George Street dates back to 1971, nearly four decades before a tower would rise.

At the time, the site was home to Anthony Horderns Mid City store, Curzons and Katies. 

Source: Fryeberg, I. 1971. "Plan for $13m city building". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 18: 11.

Tjuringa Securities Ltd, owned by Gordon Barton proposed a 46 level office building. Unlike the current tower which stretches from George Street through to Pitt Street,  It stretched from north to south and was positioned towards Pitt Street.

The reasons for its cancellation are unknown, but options to build remained open for another three decades. When the original Mid-City Centre opened in 1982, it was designed to accomodate a future tower development.

Despite this, the centre was demolished in 2010 with a new Mid City Centre rising on the site and topped off by a 36 level office tower. This was lower than the 46 levels proposed in 1971, but height limits and sun access planes into Hyde Park meant any tower built had to avoid its shadow encroaching on the park.