Sydney CBD to undergo a major transformation due to the pandemic

COVID-19 will forever change the shape of Sydney’s CBD with its future focused increasingly on recreation as more of us choose to work from home and not the office.

Sydney’s central business district is set to become less corporate and more recreational as companies allow workers to permanently work part-time from home.

This could even spark a major transformation of the CBD, where former office blocks and major hotels become apartments and carparks turn into playgrounds.

The Sydney Business Chamber believes engineering company AECOM’s decision to cut two floors of office space could be the start of the city’s transformation to a more people-friendly and green environment.

But hospitality venues say while office workers have been deserting the city on Thursday and Friday nights, Monday-Wednesday trade is actually up on last year’s figures.

Alexandra O'Neil, Steve Davis and Lisa Rooney at Opera Bar in Sydney which is enjoying solid business despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: Tim Hunter.

AECOM recently cut its George St office footprint from seven to five floors, with a majority of the 600-strong workforce saying they wanted to keep working from home two or three days a week.

“Prior to COVID, staff told us that they were not fans of agile working, but that has softened,” James Rosenwax, AECOM’s NSW regional managing director, said.

“They made it clear in the survey they would be happy to share a desk if they had the right tools and technology to work from home seamlessly and easily book a desk in a regular neighbourhood when in the office.”

Banking giant ANZ told The Saturday Telegraph: “While we are yet to make any alterations to our office footprint in Sydney, extensive work is underway to determine the size and make-up of our office requirements in the future”.

“Eventually most of our workforce will shift to a blended model where they work two or three days from home and two or three days in an ANZ office.”

NAB still plans to move into a new Wynyard office later in the year but said it is “actively engaged in determining what the new normal will mean for us”.

Transport Planner Utkarsh Sood and Environmental Scientist Mia Willows from AECOM who have dropped their Sydney footprint. Picture: Tim Hunter.

This decision is not widespread, however, with companies such as CBA and Aware Super making no changes to their office footprint.

Sydney Business Chamber Katherine O’Regan believes AECOM’s decision “is the beginning of a potential trend which will have an impact on the shape and use of the city”.

“There’s opportunities to convert some of the office space to residential,” she said.

“There is such commercial density in the city and diversifying that to residential will make a big difference to foot traffic both day and night.

“There are public spaces in the city that could change. That car park could be converted to a child’s playground because there’s more residential density in the city.

“Areas under freeways, for instance, could be converted to an art space.”

Ms O’Regan said other global cities are looking at different uses for public space.

She said the Champs-Elysees in Paris “has traditionally been full of cars but they are now making it a walkway and dining way and more of a public space”.

Hospitality giant Solotel runs 29 venues, including Aria, Bea at Barangaroo and the legendary Opera Bar.

CEO Justine Baker said people will continue coming into the city less than five days a week, but believes when they do: “They are really looking for the opportunities to be part of their work teams again”.

“The habit is that people are going out less, but when they go out they are making sure they have a really great night and they spend more,” she said.

An artist’s impression of the makeover of the Champs-Elysees. Picture: PCA-STREAM

Ms Baker said Bea restaurant’s Tuesday trade is up 15 per cent on the previous year — a trend reflected across the group’s inner city locations.

“More than anything, Sydney has the sophistication of a global city,” she said.

“Where people have been working in the suburbs, coming into the city now offers the break from their daily routine where it used to be the counterargument — where you would leave the city and go to the suburbs for something different.”

But there are issues. The lack of interstate and overseas travellers has reduced the pulse of the city and could spark longer-term changes.

Quest apartment hotels chief operating officer David Mansfield said big hotels are looking at convert their assets to apartments.

“It is already being looked at,” he said.

“If you have a large asset in the CBD and you have a hotel that’s over 400 keys and it’s only doing 5 per cent occupancy, eventually as an owner you are going to have to do something.

“You can’t sustain that.”

Originally published as Sydney CBD to undergo a major transformation due to the pandemic