It’s a favourite saying of estate agents that the most precious commodity in the world is land – it’s the one thing they’re not making any more of. But just try telling that to the brains behind ambitious new plans to conjure an expansion to the CBD with the creation of a ‘floating island’ of skyscrapers, constructed over several of the currently open-air platforms of Central Station. The $11-billion development will transform the skyline at the southern end of the CBD extending into Chippendale with a space of more than 24 hectares featuring towers as tall as 34 storeys.
Under the plans, an expansive deck will be constructed over the regional and intercity rail lines departing from the main Central Station terminal (city circle and local lines will remain outdoors), with a footprint large enough to accommodate 15 large buildings. A 24-metre pedestrian avenue, three new footbridges spanning the rail corridor separating Chippendale and Prince Alfred Park, and two new squares to be named Central Square and Central Green will also create public spaces that are likely to prove valuable to the residents of the four suburbs – Surry Hills, Redfern, Chippendale and the CBD – that will border the development. An extension will also be made to the Goods Line, extending from Railway Square all the way to the historic Mortuary Station.
The plans are part of the long-term efforts to establish the area around Central Station as Sydney’s very own Silicon Valley, creating the foremost tech and innovation hub in the country. Current NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has been spearheading some of the most ambitious development projects in Sydney since the construction of the Harbour Bridge, with major upgrades to Circular Quay, the pedestrianisation of the Carhill Expressway and a whopping 91-kilometre walking trail connecting the Rocks and Parramatta among the plans proposed during his tenure.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine this iconic part of our CBD and transform it into a world-class precinct of shops, restaurants, office spaces, parkland and additional housing,” Perrottet said of the ambitious vision, as master plans were released on August 22 ahead of the anticipated rezoning, which will clear the way for works to get underway. But don’t expect too much to change around Central Station in the near future. The plans are set to take up to 20 years to realise, and given that almost without exception, major capital projects such as this typically missed their projected completion dates, it could well take well into the midpoint of the century for plans to come to fruition.