Jerry Schwartz’s concern over Harbourside revamp in Sydney

Mirvac’s plan to revamp its Harbourside Shopping Centre has drawn the attention of hotel magnate Jerry Schwartz.

Hotel magnate Jerry Schwartz Picture: John Feder

Mirvac’s billion-dollar plan to revamp its Harbourside Shopping Centre, the centrepiece of Sydney’s Darling Harbour redevelopment, has drawn the attention of hotel magnate Jerry Schwartz, who is concerned that the redevelopment will block views from his Sofitel hotel.

The NSW government will ­assess the developer’s plans to transform the ageing shopping centre complex into a mixed-use development including offices, luxury apartments and a revamp of its retail areas.

The move is part of an overhaul of Pyrmont that includes The Ribbon project by Grocon, backed by Chinese company ­Greaton, and the already completed International Convention Centre, a $3.4bn redevelopment of Darling Harbour undertaken by a Lendlease-led consortium.

Dr Schwartz told The Australian he welcomed any update of Darling Harbour.

“Obviously it would be nice to see the Harbourside shopping complex modernised, but not at the expense of our own facility,” he said.

“Mirvac wants to pull it down and rebuild it much higher, and it would obstruct the views from our swimming pool.

“If any tower is going to be built it will be obstructing our fantastic harbour views.”

Dr Schwartz, Australia’s largest private owner of hotels, said Mirvac had bought the site about seven years ago with a view to upgrading it. Mirvac plans to undertake the dramatic $1bn revamp of the Harbourside Shopping Centre through the NSW government’s controversial unsolicited proposals scheme.

Across from Darling Harbour, plans for a $2bn office tower at Cockle Bay Wharf, led by the owners of the Darling Park complex, were approved last year. The government is also considering a metro station in the area.

The move comes ahead of new rules to be released by the NSW government in the wake of the Greater Sydney Commission’s review of Pyrmont’s building guidelines last October. The rules were found to be outdated.

In November, the industry was rocked by the shock rejection of The Star casino’s plans for a hotel and luxury apartment tower. That $529m mixed-use project drew the ire of the NSW Planning Department and the state’s independent Planning Commission.

The commission found the planned 237m tower and podium, which was to consist of a 220-room, six-star Ritz-Carlton hotel and 204 luxury apartments, was inconsistent with the area’s strategic planning and rejected its excessive scale and height.

But Mirvac is hopeful about its plans for the shopping centre it bought in 2013 for $252m. Latest plans for Harbourside are more ambitious and would help put the 1988 complex on par with the new convention centre and the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.