Modelling shows cheaper to bulldoze and rebuild ANZ Stadium than renovate
BULLDOZING Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and rebuilding it from scratch would be $132 million cheaper than renovating the ageing sports arena, according to confidential financial modelling obtained by The Daily Telegraph.
NSW
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BULLDOZING Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and rebuilding it from scratch would be $132 million cheaper than renovating the ageing sports arena.
In confidential financial modelling obtained by The Daily Telegraph, the Berejiklian Government has put paid to claims a refurbishment of NSW stadiums would be a better financial option than simply razing them and starting again.
It can be revealed an ANZ Stadium renovation option, considered by the state government, would have cost $1.385 billion.
Instead, the state government has agreed to the $1.253 billion option of bulldozing the Sydney Olympic Park stadium and rebuilding it to world class standards.
It is also understood that one “cut price” option was considered by the government but rejected by the major sporting codes. This included the NRL and ARU.
That option would have cost $944.5 million and renovated only the stadium’s lower bowl and corporate suites.
It was an alternative that would have seen the NRL and the ARU take matches elsewhere.
The Daily Telegraph understands that analysts KPMG provided modelling for three options and bulldozing completely had the strongest benefit cost ratio.
Asked why the cut price plan was rejected, Sports Minister Stuart Ayres said: “Reconfiguring the lower half of the stadium was not acceptable to the hirers and the government believes it would not have generated a world class rectangular stadium.”
The second renovation option considered by KPMG would have reconfigured all seats around a rectangular stadium, bringing every level closer to the field as per world standard.
The sporting codes accepted this formation, which cost $1.385 billion — the most expensive option presented to the government and offering 75,900 seats.
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The third option, labelled the “full redevelopment”, was to raze and rebuild the stadium to world class standards from scratch and provide 75,000 seats.
“In the choice between bringing every seat closer, and knocking down and rebuilding ANZ, it’s a lower cost to knock down and rebuild ANZ,” Mr Ayres said.
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“If they were the only two options available to the government to deliver a world class stadium then we went with the lower cost.”
The government has committed to bulldozing and rebuilding both ANZ and Allianz stadiums at a total cost of over $2 billion.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has cited a boost to tourism and jobs as a key factor behind the renovations, with Sydney being left behind in the battle for key events otherwise.