Hemmes in race for massive CBD development above new train station

Entertainment tsar Justin Hemmes is teaming with property giants Lendlease and Mirvac to bid for the right to build a major high-rise precinct above a new underground train station in Sydney’s CBD.

Merivale, the billionaire’s hospitality group, is part of a consortium vying to build two skyscrapers – each over 50 storeys – as well as the Hunter Street station, which will be a critical part of the $27 billion Metro West rail line from the CBD to Parramatta, handling thousands of commuters every hour.

Sydney Metro, the government agency overseeing the rail project, will shortlist bidders for the over-station development within weeks, which is set to include bars, restaurants, shops and offices in the towers, and pedestrian tunnels linking the station to Wynyard and Martin Place stations.

The two proposed skyscrapers, in red, above the metro train station will be up to 58 storeys high.Credit: City of Sydney

The underground station and the planned towers on Hunter Street, which will be among the tallest in Sydney, will form one of the most significant developments in the CBD this decade and be the catalyst for a major renewal of public space in the surrounding area.

Under the government’s request for tenders, bidders need to show that they will substantially improve the surrounding area and create a unique precinct.

Multiple sources said Merivale was bidding with Lendlease and Mirvac, and described the pub baron’s plans for a tower up to 51 storeys on the corner of Hunter and George streets as breathtaking. Under the early plans, pedestrians would be able to walk from street level to the building’s covered terraces.

Billionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes.Credit: Louie Douvis

The other tower, which will be up to 58 storeys, will be built on a site on the corner of Hunter, O’Connell and Bligh streets, part of which is owned by Mirvac.

Both towers will serve as entrances to the underground station, which will have the busiest city-bound platform on Sydney’s rail network once the new Metro West line opens in 2030.

Merivale has been buying up properties on George Street near its well-known Ivy bar complex – close to the site of the proposed tower – as well as other parts of the CBD in recent years.

Hemmes revealed plans four years ago to knock down the Ivy and erect a $1.5 billion skyscraper and entertainment precinct.

However, the government’s move early this year to seek interest from the private sector to build the station and develop the towers above is said to have altered Merivale’s plans.

Merivale, Lendlease and Mirvac declined to comment.

Apart from the Merivale consortium, sources say global investment giant Brookfield, which redeveloped Wynyard station and the buildings above, is also vying for the Hunter Street development. Brookfield also declined to comment.

Ministerial diaries show Merivale met senior government ministers several times late last year, including Premier Dominic Perrottet in December to talk about “CBD revitalisation”.

Two months earlier, the company discussed its unsolicited proposal for an “entertainment precinct” with then planning minister Rob Stokes.

A skyscraper up to 51 storeys to be built on the corner of George and Hunter streets will serve as one of the entrances to the metro train station.Credit: Brook Mitchell

Internal documents – dated from 2020 – show Sydney Metro believed a range of developers and landowners might be interested in acting as a “precinct development partner”, including Lendlease and Mirvac. The latter had an option over the commercial air rights for 33 Bligh Street, which is part of the area earmarked for the station’s eastern entrance and tower.

The documents obtained by the Herald reveal the agency estimated in 2020 that the Hunter Street station would cost $640 million, making it one of the most expensive to build along the 24-kilometre route of the underground rail line.

Sydney Metro said in a statement it was working with multiple tenderers through the first stage of the procurement process, after initial bids were received in August.

The agency described the model used to deliver the project as a “first-of-its-kind approach which will revitalise a critical part of Sydney’s CBD”.

“We aren’t just delivering a station – we will deliver a precinct,” it said.

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