Plans were unveiled in 1969 (Click here for last week's entry) to redevelop the site of the Trocadero into a cinema complex with a hotel tower rising 44 stories.
Source: Anon. "$30 million hotel with 5 theatres". The Daily Telegraph, November 4: page unknown.
In 1971, detailed plans were released for the Hoyts Cinema Centre including what became the Hoyts Cinema Centre and hotel tower that would rise above the complex.
The tower was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, famous for his design of Wrest Point Casino in Hobart. Hoyts Theatres were to build the 450-foot (137 metre) tower in partnership with AMP and hotel chain Sheraton International.
Unfortunately, the hotel didn't eventuate but the Cinema Complex was completed in 1976.
In 1999, Hoyts and Greater Union merged into one cinema complex which eventually became controlled by Greater Union (now Event Cinemas).
More recently, plans were approved by Sydney City Council in 2020 for an eighty-storey apartment tower to rise above the original Hoyts Cinema Complex to be developed by Mirvac and Coombes Property. However, it is "on hold".
Sourced from: Cummins, C. 2018. "George Street grows upwards with $1 billion skyscraper". The Sydney Morning Herald, July 19: 8.
Event Cinemas are also seeking to redevelop the section of the current cinemas that lies on the original site of Greater Union with a 43-storey hotel and residential tower to rise 160 metres above street level. An amended development application has been recommended for approval by the Sydney Central Planning Committee when they meet on Thursday (11 May).
Related Entry
NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Hoyts Cinema Centre Tower (1969)
