Sydney business leaders’ CBD plea: ‘Stop living in fear of Covid’
Business leaders have told governments it is time to put aside community Covid fears and get workers back to the CBD in a bid to turbocharge dying city centres and a dangerously lagging economy.
NSW
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Business luminaries are calling for all levels of government to step in, and remove the roadblocks stopping workers from returning to the office, in a bid to reverse the CBD’s dying fortunes.
Amid speculation the federal government’s national security committee could reopen the border within weeks, business leaders have urged governments to get office staff back to the city crushed by lockdowns, border bans and remote working.
“Capital cities are wealth generators, how can a state and country expand with a dead centre?” said Tony Shepherd, chairman of Venues NSW and former president of Business Council Australia.
“We need an urgent return of international tourism, to remove restrictions on late night opening hours and encourage people back to the workplace if we are to re-fire the CBD.
“Employers must encourage staff to return to the office permanently, it’s unsustainable for them to return three days a week.
Speaking about reopening the international border, Mr Shepherd said “the NSW state and federal governments must act now - not in six months, before the city completely dies.”
Hotel baron and Merivale chief executive Justin Hemmes urged the city to “stop living in fear” and return to work to turbocharge the economy.
“Big employers need to stop pushing back the return to work date for office staff, it’s killing the CBD,” said Mr Hemmes, whose CBD footprint includes The Ivy, Mr Wong’s and The Establishment Bar.
“We need people to return to work to kickstart the economy. The CBD is the heart of Sydney and that heart needs to start beating again.
“The CBD is busy at night and weekends but not during the day. We need to lift the ban on international travel to plug the shortage of visa workers to staff our businesses and remove the hysteria around Covid — I’ve had it, I know it affects people differently, but I‘ve had worse hangovers. Eighty per cent of my staff have had it. We need to learn to live alongside the virus and get back to being productive again.”
Last week’s office market report from the Property Council showed unleased office space in the CBD remained steady at 9.3 per cent — up from 8.5 per cent in early 2021, and 3.9 per cent in early 2020 before the pandemic hit.
The NSW Property Council of Australia said a repeal of mandatory mask-wearing in offices would lure workers back.
“Every time the government extends mandatory mask-wearing, it costs businesses money and is a disincentive for people to return,” said executive director Luke Achterstraat.
It comes as heavyweight firms such as Westpac and HSBC confirmed late last year they were reducing staff numbers at Lendlease‘s $4.6 billion premium offices on the Barangaroo foreshore, signalling less need for a large footprint in the CBD.
Industry experts say CBD hotels the Shangri-La, Marriott, Four seasons and Park Hyatt are operating at 30 per cent occupancy instead of 85 per cent.
Yet there is still confidence among international investors and developers in the future of the city — one third of office buildings opening in 2022 are in the Sydney CBD, according to the Property Council.
“The state government needs to change the rhetoric and the public health order that encourages people (to) still work from home — it’s been the death knell of the CBD. Workers need to come back to reactive the city and boost corporate movement and business,” Tourism Accommodation Australia CEO Michael Johnson said.
“I haven’t seen one suit at Sydney Airport for months.”
Cabinet’s national security committee will meet today to consider a border reopening, and it’s likely the committee will agree to open up in two or three weeks.
Currently, Australia’s borders are open only to residents and citizens, as well as those exempted by travel bubbles with New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
There are exemptions for vaccinated sportsmen and women and foreign students but general tourists are still banned.
“I can’t give you a specific date yet,” Mr Morrison told radio 4CA in Cairns, “and that’s because we’re just watching how omicron is sort of washing over the eastern states at the moment …. that will peak.”
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews told the ABC she has been working with the Prime Minister, and a decision on the border is “very close.”
Business and community leaders are also calling for incentives for office workers, to give them a reason to head back to the CBD.
NSW Property Council of Australia has called for a repeal of mandatory mask-wearing in offices to lure workers back.
Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra says a CBD targeted strategy to end hybrid working practices and government grants to help existing businesses would reboot the CBD.
“Thirty per cent of national retailers’ income is from NSW - it’s vital the Sydney CBD is firing again if retailers are to succeed and for international travel to resume,” he said.
City of Sydney Liberal councillor Yvonne Weldon said more CBD parking, footpath dining and a repurposing of empty office space for living arrangements would transform the CBD into a 24-hour city and refire its economy.
“Business dies after hours but if more people live in the CBD it will keep generating money,” she said.
Sydney of City Liberal councillor Shauna Jarrett said the CBD needed to become a residential city like New York and Paris to survive.
“People need to work and play in the CBD, it’s not an overnight solution, it’s a long-term strategy, but many people now have got back two hours of their lives working from home and living in the suburbs, it will be difficult to get people back into the CBD full time,” she
said.
“The council, through the planning approval process, needs to look at re-purposing empty offices and turning them into residential spaces. It’s the only way for the CBD to work on time.”
The Australian Hotels Association said visa workers were crucial to keep the CBD economy turning.
“Now is the time to open up borders, until we do, the city will keep dying,” said
AHA director of liquor and policing, John Green.
Restaurant Catering Association CEO Wes Lambert said an international presence of tourists and workers would boost foot traffic and act as a magnet to workers.
“Crowds attract crowds, it’s vital the Federal government lifts the internal travel ban and we get workers back full-time — why have corporate events on a Friday, have them throughout the week and keep the city alive and buzzing,” he said.
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