Parramatta Refuses Murrays’ Building Plans

Drivas Property Group’s challenges near Parramatta Square continue with its plans for a cantilevered tower above the Murrays’ Building refused. 

The refusal follows on from a court battle over a nearby site in which Sydney Metro was ordered to pay $190 million to G&J Drivas Pty Ltd for land.

The Murrays’ Building is within Parramatta Square, a precinct undergoing a $2.8-billion transformation by the Walker Corporation, and backs on to the town hall and Centenary Square.

Parramatta Council voted unanimously to refuse the six-storey commercial plans above the 100-year-old, heritage-listed building.

The proposal included partial demolition of the building and roof along with internal realignment at 188 Church Street, Parramatta.

TKD Architects wanted to “sympathetically upgrade” the site adding contemporary commercial spaces to facilitate an economically feasible future for the property.

However the plans were refused as they would have an “unacceptable impact on the heritage significance of the Murrays’ Building” including the separation, setbacks, amenity and urban form.

▲ The red Phive building and Parramatta Town Hall are part of the Parramatta Square development and are close neighbours of the Murrays’ Building.

It also failed to comply with a number of points on the Parramatta Development Control Plan and had negative environmental impacts to the built environment and public interest, according to the council.

“The proposed addition does not provide an adequate heritage relationship; it doesn’t respect the items bulk or scale nor its relationship with the surrounding low-scale heritage items and how they flank Centenary Square,” the refusal said.

Applicant Dimitri Drivas and architect David Earp answered questions from the panel in relation to the plans at the meeting, however it was still refused.

This is not the first foray into heritage development from Drivas Property Group, which submitted a proposal at the heritage-listed International House in the Sydney CBD.

The plans also with TKD Architects were approved in 2019, adding a seven-storey commercial addition to the building at 292 Pitt Street, Sydney.

Drivas can take the Murrays’ Building plans to the Land and Environment Court for appeal. 

G&J Drivas Pty Ltd was recently there with Sydney Metro over the compulsory acquisition of 220-230 Church Street, Paramatta, and 48 Macquarie Street.

The applicant claimed the land was worth $200 million but Sydney Metro claimed it was worth $119 million.

However, the land had an aproval for a 25-storey tower on the site, and ultimately the court ordered it was worth $179 million with an additional $10.8 million to be paid for disturbance to the pursuant.