Property Advert of the Week: Winston Hills Estate (1965)

Below is a 1965 newspaper advertisement for Winston Hills. L. J. Hooker developed the suburb. The advertisement promoted what was then a new suburb in the city's north-west. 2, 200 dwellings were to be built in three neighbourhoods. 

 

Source: Hooker-Rex Pty. Ltd. 1965. "Winston Hills Estate" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, October 29:10.

Property Advert of the Week: Jacksons Landing, Pyrmont (1998)

Jacksons Landing is the housing development that occupies the site of the CSR complex at Pyrmont. Jacksons Landing was a staged development with buildings completed between 2000 and 2021. Below is one of the first advertisements to promote the development from 1998.

 

Source: Jacksons Landing. "The Harbour, the City...and now the new Waterfront Neighbourhood" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, May 2: 18 RE (Real Estate Liftout).

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Labor Party HQ Redevelopment (1993)

The next ten weeks will be dedicated to building proposals that were planned but were never built in Sydney. 

In the first entry for this series, I will share a proposal by the Australian Labor Party (ALP ) to redevelop its Sussex Street site from 1993. Proposed was a 27 level apartment tower that was to encompass the Labor Council Building and adjoining sites. At this stage, I cannot provide an explanation for its cancellation. 

Source: Lagan, 1993. "ALP building its way out of debt". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 14: 4. 

Property Advert of the Week: Liberty Grove (1998)

Below is an advertisement from 1998 promoting the sale of townhouses at Liberty Grove.

   

Source: Liberty Grove. 1998. "Elegant townhouses..."(Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 13: 29RE (Real Estate Liftout). 

Property Advert of the Week: The Tower, Sydney (1997)

Below is an advertisement for The Tower apartments (located above Myer Sydney) dating from 1997. This was part of the redevelopment of the Farmers/Grace Bros site in George Street.

Source: Richard Ellis. 1997. "The Tower on Pitt Street Mall" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, November 22: 23RE (Real Estate Liftout).

It certainly has to be one the best locations in town to reside in, with the Pitt Street mall directly below and easy access to the rest of central Sydney.

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: 1500 unit development in Darlinghurst (1970)

Image sourced from: Frykberg, I. 1970. "1,500 new homes for Cross". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 13: 6. 

In 1970, plans were released for a 1500 unit development on a Darlinghurst site bounded by Darlinghurst Road, Liverpool Street, Forbes Street, and Farrell Avenue.

This included three towers with heights of:

594 feet (182 metres)
548 feet (167 metres)
459 feet (140 metres)

The towers would rise over a landscaped podium with the towers consuming just 25 % of the five and a half hectare site.

Apart from "resort style" facilities, there was also a small retail complex to be built to provide for the residents.

Image sourced from: Anon. 1970. "Plaza plan for the Cross". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 25: 27. 

What would have happened had it been built?

Firstly, the nearby Horizon Tower would not be so lonely!!! It would struggle for attention like it does today.

But I do believe if events had stayed the same, the towers would still dominate the area today and would rather to a testament to bad planning of the period. With development limited, they could remain there uncontested.

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: The $18 000 bedsitter (1973)

I found an article for a proposed apartment tower from an edition of The Daily Telegraph dating from 1973 for what is now the site of 60 Margaret Street, which was never built.

A "bedsitter" or studio apartment was on sale for $18 000 while a whole floor penthouse was up for grabs for $300 000.

Source: Anon. 1973. "$18,000 for a 'bedsitter'". The Daily Telegraph, April 5: 21. 

A special thank you to Richard Braddish of Sydney City Council for supplying additional information.

2000: Bob Carr & High rise Design

Below is a 2001 article from The Daily Telegraph, focusing on Bob Carr's proposal to improve the design of apartment blocks in Sydney.

The article does not mention it, but it is believed that Bob Carr was unimpressed with the architectural designs of highrise residential blocks in his electorate of Maroubra and wanted standards raised.

Some residential buildings were even designed by non-architects.

Source: Skelsey, M. "Ban on shoeboxes: Changes to stop 'lousy' unit plans". The Daily Telegraph, October 21: 7. 

This led to the passing of legislation in 2002. Under Section 65 of the State Environmental Planning Policy - Design Quality of Residential Flat Development. It meant that a registered architect could only design a residential building.

As we move towards two decades since the legislation has passed, and the results to the average person would appear to be mixed. Broadly speaking, there has been a general improvement in the terms of the architectural design of residential buildings in Sydney, particularly in the Sydney CBD and inner suburbs. As for suburban Sydney, it varies. In some suburbs, I have noticed that highrise buildings built in the past decade architecturally are more appealing than those built in the 2000s. I look at Rockdale for instance and have noticed an increase in the architectural standard of some of the unit blocks.

Even with this law, there are unit blocks that architecturally are not appealing to the eye, and tend to be in the outer suburbs, where the focus is on profit over quality. I think councils in suburbs further out may need to work on improving standards for architectural design.

There were critics that argue that architectural quality means higher house prices. I will concede that this is true, but sometimes we need to consider this cost in terms of providing quality streetscapes in which the buildings will shape, along with making a home as livable as it can be.

1966: What the Park Regis might have been

Photo taken by the Author (2013)

I have had a fondness for the fifty year old Park Regis Tower in central Sydney. It is the tallest brick building in Sydney (if not Australia) and was the first major highrise apartment tower to be built in the Sydney CBD.

I found renders of what it might have looked like from an earlier scheme. Note that the plant (service box) room was towards the south and much smaller. The upper floors didn't have the standard balconies. The swimming pool appears to have switched from the northern side towards the southern side, swapping places with the plant room.

Source. Stocks & Holdings. 1966. Untitled (Artists Impression). The Sun Herald, November 6, 49.

To live in the penthouse, it would set you back $135 000. Studio apartments were on sale for $10 000.

Stocks and Holdings actually advertised the earlier scheme in its advertisement promoting the apartments.

Source: Stocks & Holdings. 1967. "Park Regis" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 6: 20. 

Property Advert of the Week: Pelican Quays, Concord (1999)

This week head back to the late 1990's when the brownfields sites along the Parramatta River were undergoing redevelopment into new waterfront residential estates.

Below is an advertisement for Pelican Quays at Concord dating from 1999.

Source: Trafalgar Properties Limited. 1999. "Pelican Quays" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, April 17: 31RE (Real Estate Liftout).

Property Advert of the Week: The Colonnades, Milsons Point (1999)

This week, I go back to the pre-olympic wave of residential development at Milsons Point. In 1999, apartments were on sale in the complex. Sadly, it would just miss the Olympic Games for completion. 

 

Source: Colliers Jardine, 1999. "Fabulous Harbourfront Milsons Point" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 5: 11 (Real Estate Liftout). 

The building just has that Flatron Building appearance when you look at it from the eastern side as this photo I took in 2003 shows.

Property Advert of the Week: Astoria Tower (1995)

This week, we head to Sussex Street in the city where I share with you a 1995 advertisement for the Astoria Tower.

Source: Li & Fung Properties. 1995. "Astoria Tower" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 24:86.

1989: Vision for the Pyrmont Peninsula

As you can see, I enjoy sharing visions for Sydney and this one focuses on a 1989 clipping from The Sunday Telegraph where a vision for the Pyrmont Peninsula and the Bays Precinct is featured.

Source: Flamstead, K. 1989. "An emerald vision for an eyesore". The Sunday Telegraph, March 19: 155.

Some points of interest:

• The "Golden Gate" style bridge became a reality - ANZAC Bridge which was opened in 1995.
• The City West Link made it as far as Lilyfield but Westconnex will now link the road with the M4 Motorway at Concord.
• The White Bay intersection became a reality.
• Residential Development has ended up being predominantly midrise with some highrises permitted. Some of the area has since become public land.  
• Proposed tourist developments never eventuated at Darling Island with office and apartment buildings built.
• The old goods line became a light rail line in 1997. It initially went to Glebe, was extended to Lilyfield (2000) and then in 2014 to Dulwich Hill. 
• There is no direct identification of which Grain Terminal (Pyrmont or Glebe Island) was going to be replaced with terrace typed housing. At Pyrmont, Apartment blocks were built and incorporated a public park. At Glebe Island, the silos are heritage listed.
• Blackwattle Bay did get a marina which is home to Sydney's Super Yachts.

Planning is underway on the Bays Precinct which will focus on the redevelopment of the former Port at Glebe Island and the Sydney Fish Markets. 

Property Advert of the Week: The Southern Cross Towers (1999)

This week, we remain in 1999 and in central Sydney. However, we head down to the southern end of the city, where Di Jones was promoting apartments in the The Souther Cross Towers at the corner of Goulburn Street and Wentworth Avenue. They say 5% is a good yield on an investment property today, but what about 7.5%.

 

Source: Di Jones Real Estate. 1999. "The Southern Cross Towers" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 5: 22RE (Real Estate Liftout).

2004: Breakfast Point takes shape

During the early 2000's one of the many new residential developments that were taking shape along the Parramatta River was Breakfast Point. Now it is a suburb in its own right.

Here is a photo that I snapped that year.