MLC Building North Sydney: Mayor gets tough over $509m plan

A furious mayor has called on critics to “man up” and repeat accusations to her face as the battle over a tower block gets personal.

A mayor has thrown her support behind a developer’s plan to bulldoze a historic office tower in North Sydney as debate over the contentious redevelopment heats up on the north shore.

A $509 million proposal to knock down the MLC building on Miller St to make way for a new 27 storey skyscraper is continuing to divide residents after the release of plans last year attracted hundreds of submissions, a 1600-strong petition and drew the involvement of state heritage officials.

The 1950s post-war office block is recognised as the first office tower of its style and size to be built in North Sydney and a majority of written submissions from residents have favoured keeping it.

The MLC building on Miller St.

Supporters of the redevelopment have meanwhile challenged the architectural merits of the structure and developers behind the project say the run-down state of the building is longer fit for modern purposes.

North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson, a supporter of the redevelopment, weighed in on social media in a to-and-fro as locals went head to head on whether the proposal should be given the green light.

One resident, a supporter of saving the building, said the MLC should be protected in line with its heritage listing and made an unfounded accusation that Cr Gibson was “in the pocket” of developers.

The claim was rejected by Cr Gibson, who called for the resident and another MLC supporter to be “brave enough to come up to council and make these accusations to my face”.

A concept image of the proposed redevelopment.

“Sad to see personal attacks on this community page. Interestingly all the attacks are blokes against a female leader. So last decade guys!!” Cr Gibson wrote.

“I suggest you play the ball not the woman! Getting personal is not helpful.

“You’re welcome to your opinions but the nasty personal comments are inappropriate. Man up and meet with me in person”

In response to the comments, one of the MLC supporters said it was “nasty stuff … insinuating we’re misogynists.”

Cr Gibson told the Mosman Daily that “social media was no place to conduct personal attacks on anyone.”

North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson.

She said: “There was a lot of personal inappropriate hate speech about me on social media and I sent an invitation to all of those trolls to say the accusation to my face. 

“There’s obviously a hard core group of architects and historians who will continue to be vocal about preserving the building and I respect that however the average resident CBD worker and visitor is either disinterested in the building or has a distinct dislike for the appearance of the building.

“From residents I talk to it’s not only about the visuals of the building, it’s all about its inefficiency and unsuitability as a modern workplace.”

The proposal is currently subject to a review by the independent Planning Commission with a report due to be handed down by the end of June.

Investa, which is developing the project, told an IPC meeting last month that the current building is no longer fit for purpose and requires $212 million in refurbishment costs to bring it up to scratch.

The MLC building in North Sydney, pictured in 1957.

A spokeswoman for the company said the proposed redevelopment was also in line with North Sydney Council’s “vision for the CBD and is one of several ‘placemaking’ projects either proposed or underway in the town centre”. 

The proposal has previously attracted multiple submissions from architects including UNSW School of Architecture Design and Planning Professor Cameron Logan who described it as “the best piece of architecture in the North Sydney CBD.”

NSW Heritage Council chairman Frank Howarth has also told another IPC meeting last month the building has “a great deal of significance” to the north shore landscape.

“It was a seminal building in terms of its type of construction, but also its location, the first major office building, the first building of its type in North Sydney, and it really marked the establishment of North Sydney as Sydney’s second CBD.”