Brewery site sold to Singapore developer

Brewery site sold to Singapore developer
Email Print Normal font Large font Catharine Munro Urban Affairs Editor
June 13, 2007

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AdvertisementIN ONE gulp, a Singaporean developer has swallowed the biggest block of land in the inner city.

Stanley Quek yesterday announced he had paid $208 million for the 5.8-hectare Carlton & United Breweries site in Chippendale, predicting that in three to four years he would look back chuffed at his bargain.

After a wrangle between the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, and the state Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, in 2005 over building restrictions on the site, Dr Quek has permission to build 11 towers of apartments and office space.

"What we want is to create a village that people can work and play in," said Dr Quek, who is chief executive of Frasers Property.

Dr Quek said he was aiming to offer affordable real estate, having just completed the Lumiere apartments on the site of the old Regent Theatre in George Street, using the internationally acclaimed architect Norman Foster to fill in one of Sydney's oldest black holes.

"It's for people who want to live in Glebe but can't afford Glebe prices," Dr Quek said.

But the "village" will be in the context of Mr Sartor's height restrictions for 1666 apartments and 90,000 square metres of commercial and retail space. Dr Quek plans to build to the maximum height restriction of 110 metres for the buildings, which front Broadway opposite the towers of the University of Technology, Sydney. There will also be a park.

Cr Moore, from whom Mr Sartor took control of the planning for the site in 2005, the year the brewery closed, has criticised the restrictions for exceeding the 70- to 100-metre limit that the council wanted in the area.

Frasers Property will have to cough up the $208 million in just over two weeks to meet the demands of the brewer's owner, Fosters Group, which wants a settlement before the end of the financial year.

An attempt to sell the site failed when the developer Australand abandoned its option to buy it for $203 million in March 2005, after disagreeing with the City of Sydney about how densely it could build.

While plenty of office blocks have had a higher price tag, the CUB site is believed to be the most costly piece of land that will be developed from scratch.

Dr Quek promised to hold design competitions for about three of the 11 towers.

He is also obliged to retain 29 of the 33 buildings on the site, which are considered of heritage value.

Any plans will still be subject to development approval by the City of Sydney. Yesterday Cr Moore said she expected excellence in design and community consultation.

"These buildings are an important part of Sydney's history, and the character of Chippendale and together these buildings make up a very special heritage precinct," she said.

The site is also the subject of another court action over climate change. Matthew Drake-Brockman, an inner-city student, argues that the Department of Planning did not take climate change into account in developing the planning controls.

Dr Quek dismissed the threat of court action, saying ecologically sustainable standards would be observed, but he was vague on what features the building would have.

"We will make sure it is as green as possible," he said, citing solar panels and double glazing as two features that might be included in the site.