Sydney light rail opening set to revive big and small businesses
It is a year overdue and $1.4b over budget but the CBD light rail is less than 80 days away from completion. Now top companies are moving to a reborn George St on the promise the new transport system will create a stylish shopping boulevard to bring in even more customers.
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Sydney’s spine has undergone the longest and most painful surgery in its history but George St’s transformation is almost complete.
In less than 80 days the CBD light rail — a year overdue and $1.4 billion over budget — will finally begin operating.
Each 67m-long tram will transport as many as 450 passengers (the equivalent of nine buses) into the CBD every four minutes during peak periods.
Small businesses that somehow survived the process are freshening up menus, investing in new signage, applying for more outdoor dining space and doing all they can to stay on the strip.
Others are praying the lockout laws end.
Big retailers, meanwhile, have deserted Pitt St for George St and are banking on the light rail project making the street itself a destination.
“While construction hasn’t always been a smooth ride, the light rail will soon transform the way we get around and experience our city,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“You can already see people taking back and enjoying the streetscape, which will be great for shops, cafes, bars and restaurants along the route.
“Thank for your patience Sydney, we’re almost there.”
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The City of Sydney has received more than 58 development applications along the CBD light rail corridor over the past 24 months.
There has been $23.1b in development since the Sydney Light Rail project started in 2015.
The 605sq m Louis Vuitton store on the corner with King St, for example, is about to undergo an $11 million renovation.
Desperate to capitalise on their prime retail space in time for the December opening, the fashion retailer has applied to conduct building works around the clock, seven days a week.
One block south at Myer, the city store’s general manager Alison Muir said the light rail “will bring even more shoppers into the centre of the city, and will provide greater convenience for customers with a tram stop near one of the entrances to our Myer Sydney City store”.
“We are continuing to make customer-focused improvements to our store including our new Beauty Emporium and our soon to be opened refurbished homewares floor,” she said.
Nespresso and General Pants have left Pitt St for George St, where they enjoy cheaper rent and what analysts claim is better brand exposure.
Georg Jensen, Optus, Vodafone and Michael Hill are among 14 new businesses on George St in the past year.
“Brands are moving off Pitt Street Mall to George St as it will be a 1km pedestrian boulevard rather than Pitt St being one block,” CBRE head of retail leasing Leif Olson said.
Large scale developments along the route include the proposed $225m redevelopment of the Event Cinemas site and Lendlease’s $1.9b project at Circular Quay.
The Salesforce Tower, located at 180 George St where the old Jacksons on George nightclub was, sees Lendlease investing in a public plaza, retail laneways, “wellness facilities”, bicycle hub and a new hospitality venue.
Fifty metres down the road cafe Quay & Co is directly outside the last light rail line stop in Circular Quay.
The venue has 32 outside seats but head chef Phillip Tsompanis is waiting on approval for 80 — the same amount it had before construction started.
“Before the light rail opening we will be freshening up the menu and offering quicker meals,” Mr Tsompanis said.
“We are expecting an increase in foot traffic and that we will be able to turn over more tables.
“The business will be much better off once works are completed.”
What has been a win for large retailers moving in has been a disaster for small businesses, especially in Haymarket and the southern CBD.
Almost all food small retailers south of Liverpool St have shut down, while those that have survived suffered as much as 50 per cent drops in profit.
Transport for NSW said it has offered 180 businesses more than $40.7m in financial assistance.
Many businesses in between the five light rail stops on George St are unsure whether the project will actually rob them of foot traffic because potential customers will be on a tram rather than walking past their store.
Almost none believe they will see changes overnight, saying they expect the street will take a year or more to really come into its own.
They also say small businesses may be forced off George St if rents shoot up.
Combined Loan Office co-owner Daniel Ayoub said his business will survive.
“We’ve dropped our interest rate, invested in some new signage and are hoping the end of construction brings people back to the area,” he said.
Mr Ayoub is one of than 200 businesses, residents and landlords are running a class action against Transport for NSW for damages for economic loss and psychiatric suffering.
The trial is set down for July next year with lawyers aiming to squeeze $400 million out of the state government.
Mitry Lawyers partner Rick Mitry said the opening of the light rail will not have a bearing on the case.
“Some business owners have said that they have admitted themselves to psychiatric institutions because of the stress and anguish,” he said.
“I hope this litigation gives people some relief.”
But many retailers said that nothing is guaranteed — especially when it comes to this bungle-plagued project.
Before light rail construction started Mario Mourtada’s three Style Plus barber stores were making $500,000 annual profit.
Last year the stores made $29,000.
“At the moment we can’t do the $150,000 renovation we want to just based on the hype of the light rail opening,” he said of his Haymarket store on 649 George St.
“We will wait and see before making a decision.”
Originally published as Sydney light rail opening set to revive big and small businesses
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