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).

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Qantas Centre Sibling (1968)

Sourced From: Source: Anon. 1968. "Untitled" (Artist's Impression). The Sydney Morning Herald, May 7: 1. 

255 George Street (formerly known as NAB House) was completed in 1986. The 32-level building rises 127 metres above George Street.

It is located in the same block as 259 George Street (formerly known as the QANTAS Centre).

In 2018, I posted an entry relating to plans for the block focusing on the QANTAS Centre, which was completed in 1981.

This week it is about its smaller sibling, which was to be built. interestingly, it was to be constructed to a height of around 150 metres taller, yet retain the same design as its bigger sibling. 

It was projected that it would not be completed until 1983, but was completed in 1986. The building retained the octagonal shape as envisioned by original architects Joseland and Gilling, but  Peddle Thorp Walker redesigned it into all glass skyscraper, which was reflective of 1980s office towers.

The second tower was to accommodate additional office space for Qantas space as it expanded but instead became the Sydney Headquarters of the National Australia Bank (NAB) until 2021 when the NAB moved two blocks up George Street to Brookfield Place at Wynyard. 

Currently, the Bank of Queensland is the anchor tenant, signing a major lease in 2021 including signage rights atop the tower. 

Related Entry

1968: Plans for the Qantas Centre are unveiled

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Hoyts Centre Tower (1971)

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)

Property Advert of the Week: Victoria Tower - Sydney CBD (1996)

Below is a newspaper advertisement from 1996 promoting a "final release" in the Victoria Tower complex in Castlereagh Street (next to Park Regis) with the promise of dramatically reduced prices.

   

Source: Colliers Jardine. 1996. "Victoria Tower" (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, June 22: 16 RE (Real Estate Liftout).

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.