NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: 40 Park Street (1988)

Full Citation Below

Did you know that a tower was once proposed to be built on the site of the recently completed Parkline Place tower in Park Street, directly above Gadigal Station, decades before heavy rail snaking underneath Pitt and Castlereagh Streets, and a metro station right on Park Street?

It happened in 1988.

Interestingly, the proposed tower was 40 storeys tall, just one storey higher than today's tower. The development would have comprised 4000 sq/m of retail space, 45,000 sq/m of space (similar to the current Parkline Place), a 2,500 sq/m space for a library, and a four-storey public atrium.

It was to be developed by developer Frank Theeman.

Source: Chancellor, J. 1988. "Theeman catches key CBD sites". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 1: 28.

How would the Metro Station fit into the narrative had the tower been built?

This tower would have impacted plans for the Sydney Metro if they had to stick to what we see today. It would have created a barrier to building an entrance from Park Street. Consider that it was planned for Town Hall and Gadigal Stations not to be connected at all to avoid creating a "super station". Gadigal was also built to alleviate overcrowding at Town Hall Station. Data has shown that patronage at Town Hall has decreased by 10% since the CBD Metro opened. Options for a station entrance, particularly at the northern end, are limited, and Park Street is also a bus corridor for a number of bus services operating in central Sydney.

This tower would have likely been compulsorily acquired and demolished just like 39 Martin Place was for the construction of the metro platforms and entrances at Martin Place and the buildings in Elizabeth, Castlereagh and Hunter Streets that were located behind the Commonwealth Bank building. This would ultimately mean Parkline Place would be built, likely in a very similar form to the current tower and to at least the same number of floors and height, if not kept to the 40 floors. As for heights, Parkline Place may have ended up taller provided it could conform to solar access protections, meet design excellence standards and justify breaching height and planning limits.

This is a "never built" that did Sydney a favour, even if it was not back in the 1980s, because the acquisition of the tower for the Sydney CBD Metro would have increased construction costs and removed any barriers to placing a station entrance to Gadigal Station in Park Street. 

Above: Parkline Place as viewed from Park Street at Hyde Park. Photo taken by the Author (2025).

1988: Early mention of a proposed North-West Rail Link.

I found an article from The Sunday Telegraph that was published in 1988 focusing on transport options for our North-Western Suburbs including Rouse Hill and Kellyville. 

At the time, Rouse Hill and Kellyville were semi-rural suburbs with planning underway to develop them into new suburbs.

Source: Pedley, S. 1988. "New rail link likely for suburban sprawl". The Sunday Telegraph, October 23: 11. 

Baulkham Hills Shire Council (Hills Shire) had met with representatives of the NSW Government and property developers to discuss transport options to serve the new estates.

Being considered was construction of "major new freeways". This would have included construction of the Castlereagh Freeway which evolved to become the M2 Motorway and part of the Western Sydney Orbital. 

Also it mentioned that "Sydney's rail system could be extended to take in the proposed development of new suburbs north-west of the city".

I highlighted could because it meant that a rail line was a possibility. However no mention of possible routes is given.

Council was prepared to approve the developments subject to a commitment that the transport projects proceed.

As a minimum, council was prepared to accept a "property integrated bus service" to serve the new estates.

It was disappointing though, that there were no possible routes suggested for the rail link because that would have had the debate going.

Related entries

1998: The first plan for a North West Sydney rail line

1998: The first plan for a North West Sydney rail line

Enlarged from the following source: Bissett, K. "$5bn transport link to the future".  The Daily Telegraph, November 24: 4.

The Berejiklian Government has delivered the Metro North West Rail Line to the people of Sydney and has quickly been embraced by the people of Sydney and also has given the people of the booming North West its own rail line.

This week, I look back at when the first proposal for a rail line to serve the North West was mooted.

It was in 1998 when Labor was in power, led by Bob "the builder" Carr and Carl Scully was Transport Minister.

In November of that year, Action for Transport 2010 was released, providing a decade long plan for the delivery of transport infrastructure across Sydney covering all modes of transport.

With rail, the ambitious plan included a rail line running from Chatswood to Parramatta (via Epping), another line running from Hurstville to Strathfield, extension of the Eastern Suburbs line to Bondi Beach, a Y link at Casula and upgrades to the intercity lines running between Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.

There were also plans for a branch line to run from Epping to Castle Hill with new stations at Castle Hill and West Pennant Hills. Completion was anticipated for 2010. Question to ask - Would trains run via the northern line or would they proceed to Chatswood and then the city (like how the Sydney Metro will evolve into).

That would make the delivery of heavy rail to Castle Hill a decade late under the 1998 plan!!!

Source: Bissett, K. "$5bn transport link to the future".  The Daily Telegraph, November 24: 4.