[+] New Laws Put $2bn Entertainment Quarter in Peril

Plans for a $2-billion redevelopment of Sydney’s Moore Park Entertainment Quarter hang in the balance with a parliamentary inquiry under way into a bill opponents say will make those plans unviable. Developer consortium Carsingha Investments, which includes high-profile names such as Gerry Harvey and John Singleton, put forward an unsolicited proposal for the former showgrounds site in 2019. But it has languished in the second phase of the process since November 2019—more than two years and almost a third of the time it has held the lease for the precinct. The group paid $80 million for a 30-year leasehold on the precinct in 2014, and brought forward plans to redevelop the “tired” entertainment quarter with initial plans including a hotel and buildings up to 20 storeys, which have since been revised, as well as a new 1ha green space. The Greater Sydney Parkland Trust Bill was introduced to the NSW parliament late last year. It would slash leases at Centennial Park from 99 years to 50 years, and remove on-grass car parking next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, a move Carsingha Investments chairman Max Moore-Wilton claimed would scupper the consortium’s revitalisation plans for the Entertainment Quarter. ▲ High-profile investors and long-time mates Gerry Harvey and John Singleton are part of the Carsingha Consortium who launched $2-billion bid to redevelop the Entertainment Quarter. Shorter leases impact redevelopment viability Max “the Axe” Moore-Wilton, a former top public servant turned private sector executive, said the bill would put the entertainment quarter proposal at risk and “terminate current unique selling proposition negotiations”. “It would take us back to square one and stop any major capital investment in (the quarter) probably over the remaining lease term and certainly beyond,” Moore-Wilton said. “Despite our best intentions, since the government’s vision in 1995, the precinct has never lived up to its expectations … we are putting forward a proposal to remedy that. “There is no point in reinvesting or putting lipstick on the pig. The pig has failed. We want to renegotiate.” Carsingha Investments is the third organisation to control the lease for the quarter since 1995, after Lendlease and Colonial First State. “Currently we are saying that Carsingha has a lease that is really not fit for purpose if you want to develop a commercial Entertainment Quarter,” Moore-Wilton said. “We have found that over the years, now that we have been operating it, and this unsolicited proposal is designed to come up with a new, much more flexible proposal that would still meet the needs of commercial residents and commercial reality.” Moore-Wilton drew fire from committee member and Greens MP David Shoebridge, who argued the Entertainment Quarter had been “a flop” and the redevelopment of the site should be put out to tender. “What have you got to fear from an open tender process? Is it the fact that there is actually nothing specifically special about your proposal and you want to protect that, and that is why you are avoiding an open tender process,” Shoebridge said. “Let&#x27;s get some reality, Mr Moore-Wilton … it has been a flop in the hands of Carsingha. What comfort would we possibly have that the same people who have been managing it so badly to date would be the people to give a potential 99-year lease to it? Why would we go back and repeat the errors of the past? “It is well below its potential in terms of an amazingly well-connected, highly prized public space.” ▲ NSW minister Rob Stokes said longer leases should be an option to make redevelopments of under-utilised precincts more commercially viable. Juggling act for planners Former Planning Minister and current Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport Rob Stokes also appeared at the parliamentary inquiry advocating for flexibility on longer lease terms and a more transparent and competitive process. “I think clearly on the basis of the evidence provided this morning by Carsingha, the last thing we want is for that incredible opportunity to sort of not be taken up,” Stokes said. “[If it were to] sit there dormant for 24 years. If that would be the outcome, that is a terrible thing because it is a crucial piece of those parklands and it should be used for the community to enjoy. “Any lease over 10 years needs to go through an open process … I think that is a great outcome, and that is the one I think we should focus on. I think the lease term is less important. If a longer lease term can get a better result for the public, then it should be a longer lease team.” Entertainment Quarter co-chief executive Sam Romaniuk joined the chorus for rejuvenation of the “sadly under-utilised and cut-off precinct to realise its enormous potential”. In an opinion piece published recently, Romaniuk said he wanted to set the record straight, advising there was no plan to further commercialise public space but to create new green space out of the old show ring. “No towers, no apartments and the promise of an open-design competition to ensure we create something that will be the envy of the world,” Romaniuk said. “The new park, which will be made possible by tearing up an existing tarred roadway, will be complemented by plans to remove the concrete that currently covers half the old showgrounds and return that historical landmark to its former use as a much-needed oval for local community sporting groups.” The parliamentary inquiry committee is due to hand down a report on February 21. You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Learn more .

[+] New Laws Put $2bn Entertainment Quarter in Peril

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