Hakoah Club: Paddington Jewish community centre to re-emerge at White City in $95M renovation

A major project to revitalise the White City Tennis Centre by storied Jewish organisation Hakoah Club has been given an unofficial opening date as construction begins.

Construction has officially begun on the new Hakoah Club in Paddington after years of delays and a contentious development approval process, with the club flagging it intends to open its doors by 2024.

Located in Paddington next to the Sydney Grammar School campus, the Hakoah Club plans to return the one-time home of Australian tennis to its former glory as the club’s new base, following the sale of the original Jewish club site in Bondi in 2009.

Now the site is one step closer to reopening as a sports and community centre that will boast tennis courts, cricket, basketball, netball, football and soccer fields, as well as a cafe and restaurant.

Hakoah Club president Steven Lowy on Friday said the $95 million development – which included the land purchase – represented one of the largest-ever contributions from the NSW Jewish community, with more than $75 million brought in.

The figure also includes federal and state government investment.

Artist impressions of Hakoah Club White City. Image: Woollahra Council papers.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet flagged the project as an example of the community-led development he hoped to see more of. Mr Perrottet was NSW Treasurer when the plans were first brought to the state government.

“What really pulled me to this project as treasurer was the community; the Jewish community coming together with investment in a project that they wanted.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, Vaucluse MP Gabrielle Upton and Hakoah Club President Steven Lowy on Friday.

“And this is something I really do believe we can do more of in this country, which is partnership between the community and government,” Mr Perrottet said.

Construction at the site next to Sydney Grammar School in Paddington was originally slated to begin in 2021.

However the path to development hasn’t been without controversy since the original development application was lodged in 2015.

Residents raised concerns when architectural and construction plans were unveiled in 2020 that 80 heavy vehicles required during building would cause congestion.

Many parts of White City have been unused since 2020. Photo: AAP/Matthew Vasilescu.

An artist impression of the Hakoah Club at White City. Image: Woollahra Council papers.

The wider eastern suburbs community also questioned whether the private Jewish consortium would make good on its promise to open the facility to the public.

Mr Lowy told the Wentworth Courier in 2020 that while the club was underpinned by Jewish culture, people from all faiths and backgrounds would be welcome.

“There’s no doubt the new Hakoah Club at White City, while based on Jewish values and culture and essentially funded mostly by the Jewish community, will be open to the broader community,” Mr Lowy said.

The project was given the green light by the Land & Environment Court in 2021, after Woollahra Council and Hakoah came together to negotiate the final details of the project.

The club has said entry level memberships will cost as little as $5 per week, however prospective attendees will need an introduction by an existing club member to join.

The tennis courts will continue to be run by the Maccabi Tennis Club and will be open to non-members, as will the gym and wellness centre.

Community groups and sports clubs will be able to rent the fields which can accommodate sports including cricket, basketball, netball, football, soccer and futsal, and school sports carnivals will be welcomed, the club has said.

Woollahra Mayor Susan Wynne told the Wentworth Courier it had been a “mammoth” effort to get the project to construction.

“It’s going to be such an incredible asset to the community that everyone can share and enjoy,” Ms Wynne said, adding that the community’s majority funding was a “reflection of how much the Jewish community believe in this project.”

The project is expected to create 250 jobs during its construction, dozens more once it is operational and is projected to create flow on benefits to the economy of more than $100 million.