Manly: Plans emerge for a beachfront office building with ‘high end’ restaurant and basement bar

A two-storey building in a prime location on Manly Beach could be bulldozed and replaced with three levels that include a ‘high end’ restaurant and a basement bar.

An artist's impression of a proposed three-storey commercial redevelopment of 34-35 South Steyne, It would replace an existing two-storey building opposite Manly Beach. Picture: Durbach Block Jaggers

A push for an $11m demolition and radical rebuild of a prime commercial property on the beachfront at Manly has emerged.

Developers want to bulldoze the two-storey building on South Steyne, which now houses a dumpling “bar”, and replace it with three levels that include a “high end” restaurant and a basement bar as well as two floors of offices.

But neighbours have been complaining to Northern Beaches Council that the increase in height, which breaches local building height rules, will block their view of Manly Beach and beyond.

The building at 34-35 South Steyne, Manly that is the subject of a redevelopment application to Northern Beaches Council. Picture: Manly Daily

Others have complained that the new facade, which includes large pane glass windows, would not fit in with the character of the area.

In its assessment report, the council recommended the DA be approved, but its heritage adviser had concerns about the amount of glass used in the redevelopment “in the context of the site being within the heritage conservation area and … the wider townscape of the Manly Corso and South Steyne area”.

The Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel, which is assessing the DA after the council received 19 submissions about the proposal, deferred making a decision at a meeting last week.

In its written decision the panel wants the owners to submit new plans that included a slight reduction in height of the proposed new building.

The building at 34-35 South Steyne, currently accommodates the Alice Dumpling Bar. Picture: Manly Daily

The panel stated that it needed more information “because of the critical nature of view impacts on adjacent residences resulting from the proposed exceedence of the maximum building height”.

The panel was told that modelling showed the views from an apartment block in nearby Wentworth St would be negatively affected.

The Manly Business Chamber supported the DA.

In its submission it wrote that the redevelopment would offer “a diverse retail and commercial amenity that will provide an opportunity for revitalisation of a premium site in the Manly Town Centre”.

A high end restaurant could be part of the redevelopment on South Steyne. Picture: Durbach Block Jaggers

Greg Boston, a spokesman for the property owners, Gwynvill Properties Pty Ltd, told the panel meeting that while the zoning allowed for “shop top” apartments, the owners wanted to provide office space instead.

“It’s quite a unique application in Manly,” Mr Boston said.

“This is one of the rare applications where you don’t have an application for shop-top housing in front of you, but you have an application for 100 per cent commercial.”

The panel meeting was told that the owners wanted to lease the ground floor to a “high end” restaurant and that a bar, as part of that restaurant, could be situated in the basement.