Manly: Barangaroo visionaries Right Angle Studios hired for revamp
The consultants who helped turn Barangaroo into a cool dining destination have been hired to help Manly become a vibrant entertainment and retail space for residents and tourists post COVID-19.
Manly
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A high-flying consultancy group that helped create the vision for Barangaroo has been hired to help reboot Manly’s CBD post COVID-19.
The Corso Owners Group – which is made up of the biggest commercial landlords in Manly – agreed last week to commission Right Angle Studios to come up with a plan for property owners to work towards.
The report will also be shared with Northern Beaches Council to help with its plans to improve the Corso, which according to Tracey Mietzke from the Manly Business Chamber, is a “total dump” and is putting off retailers.
Ms Mietzke, who is also a business development manager for one of the main landlords Chris Athas, of Athas Group, said the big property owners are now fully onboard and committed to working together to sort out Manly.
“It is a wonderful opportunity to help drive the Corso post COVID and for the next 15 to 20 years,” she said.
“We want to get a memorandum of understanding for all the landlords to sign.
“It will allow landlords to move forward to start working in unison for the kind of tenants we should be looking for.
“It’s the most cooperative we’ve ever seen everyone.”
Ms Mietzke said intelligent planning was required to get Manly on track and she said Right Angle Studios is a world-class consultancy.
“They worked on Barangaroo from what it was to what it is now,” she said.
“We have a lot to learn from Barangaroo.
“The outdoor dining there is beautiful and we could do that in Manly.”
She said the consultants will look at the kind of retailers that will work for Manly’s residents and tourists and how to attract them.
She said names she would like to see come to Manly are Aesop, PE Nation, Lulu Lemon, Mecca, and of course, Apple.
“There’s a lot more to Manly than just surf shops,” Ms Mietzke said.
“We would all love an Apple store in Manly, there is always room for these kinds of experiential retailers.”
Some landlords are already trying to work on developing naturally evolving precincts within Manly following a report last year that recommended building on “destinations” that already exist within Manly such as the fitness district around Central Ave, lifestyle in Whistler St, Rialto Lane’s urban oasis, beachfront dining, harbourside hospitality and the convenience district around the wharf and The Corso.
Ms Mietzke said landlords have started phoning each other if they have been approached by a retailer which is better suited to a different part of the CBD.
Right Angle Studios was previously employed by the Athas Group to come up with a vision for redeveloping the Whistler St carpark.
That included demolishing the current carpark and old library and creating a cultural hub including a new library, commercial and residential space and retail on the ground level.
The development was dumped when plans for alternative parking under the oval were ditched meaning it couldn’t go ahead, with the Athas group launching a $74m lawsuit against the council for cancelling the redevelopment.