North Sydney 52 McLaren St: Anger over Sydney Metro site plan

A proposal to turn a Sydney Metro construction site into a new skyscraper has been revealed during a Zoom meeting held by Transport for NSW. See the plans here:

The high rise boom in North Sydney’s CBD would encroach further into surrounding streets under plans for a new 24 storey skyscraper on a Sydney Metro construction site.

Traffic congestion, overshadowing and privacy concerns are among objections by residents to an early planning proposal by Transport for NSW to redevelop 52 McLaren St once construction work for the new Metro line is completed in 2024.

Residents in nearby unit towers were given a first glimpse of the proposal during a Zoom meeting conducted by Transport for NSW officials last week.

A concept plan of the planning proposal

Documents presented at the meeting show two proposals are being considered by the department including a mostly residential building with ground level retail areas, and a second that would have a mix of units and commercial space.

The site was originally proposed to become a Uniting aged care home before being acquired by Transport for NSW in 2017 to support construction on the Sydney Metro rail line between Bankstown and Sydney’s northwest.

Both proposals for the site feature two separate towers standing 14 and 24 storeys and would border properties including Wenona School and medium-density apartment buildings.

The Sydney Metro construction site.

George Edwards, who has lived opposite the site for the past 18 years, fears the development would dwarf surrounding homes and said residents have been given less than two weeks to provide early feedback on the plans.

“The height limit for the site has been 14 storeys and what’s being planned is a complete overreach,” he said.

“It will cast a shadow over our building and also impact traffic – the streets surrounding it are already choked and it’s only going to be made worse.

A concept plan of the two options for the planning proposal including mostly residential (left) and mixed commercial-residential (right).

“This area is not the CBD part of North Sydney, it’s the French style end of North Sydney – there are schools, churches, the council buildings and the oval.

“A development of this size would be out of place.”

The plans come after 52 McLaren St was included in a civic planning study by North Sydney Council that listed various sites between the North Sydney and Crows Nest town centres with “development potential”.

The study, adopted by councillors in November, involved increasing the height limit at 52 McLaren St from 14 to 24 storeys.

Residents are concerned density is increasing in streets surrounding the North Sydney CBD.

The study was partly prompted by the Victoria Cross Metro Station that is set to see a surge in foot traffic and development interest in the area once it opens in 2024.

More than half of the 193 submissions to the council’s study objected to the changed planning laws and redevelopment of 52 McLaren St.

In a statement, North Sydney Council said “low scale, fine grain residential and mixed use buildings were recommended for the vast majority of the precinct”.

“Given the arrival of the Metro in 2024, several sites in the precinct (are) identified for taller buildings,” a spokeswoman said.

A concept plan of the planning proposal

Transport for NSW said a “public benefit offering” would be made to North Sydney Council as part of the planning proposal including childcare and pedestrian link from Faith Bandle Place to Elliot St.

“The proposal has been developed in line with North Sydney Council’s vision for the site established in council’s civic precinct planning study,” a Sydney Metro spokeswoman said.

“Sydney Metro intends to release the site to market once the planning proposal has been approved.

“The successful tenderer will become the landowner and will be responsible for the detailed design and construction of the site.”

The department said it intends to place the proposal on exhibition for broader public feedback early next year.