Dexus Plans A-Grade Adaptive Reuse Office Tower in Ultimo

Dexus and HBB Property have teamed up for the latest commercial development filed for in Ultimo in Sydney’s inner city. 

The site, at 86-90 Bay Street, will be redeveloped into a six-storey commercial building if plans for a  “sustainable and environmentally conscious A-grade office building” are approved by the City of Sydney council. 

Dexus Funds Management Limited and HBB Property Pty Limited are the investment advisors to 86 Bay Street Pty Ltd (ATF Bay Street Trust), with plans for the site designed by Fitzpatrick + Partners.

They have proposed a $16-million tower to “revitalise and positively enhance the architectural form, streetscape response and activation of the building”.

The site is in the Mountain Street Heritage Conservation Area, although not a heritage listed item itself.

The proposals for the site re-use the existing structure while integrating a timber extension up to six storeys with a “high-performance, low-embodied carbon skin”.

They also include plans for a ground floor retail tenancy.

Currently home to a three-storey office building, the site has an area of 1011sq m and the current building is “noticeably smaller in scale” compared to the two adjacent properties, which developers say contributes ”negatively to the streetscape of Bay Street”. 

▲ The developers noted that while commercial land use is being sought, the development could also be suitable for educational purposes.

It is in the southern end of the Mountain Street Locality which is predominantly adaptively reused older warehouse buildings. 

The site is within walking distance of education precincts including UTS and TAFE to the east, the new mixed-use hub of Central Park to the south-east, and the Broadway shopping centre to the west.

“The proposed design delivers a building that acknowledges and respects the heritage fabric of the adjoining properties and improves the streetscape of Bay Street, transforming the building massing from a detracting heritage item,” the developers said.

The aim is to provide further employment-generating floorspace opportunities “while further improving the marketability to potential future tenants by providing additional useable space to accommodate flexible tenancy opportunities either for commercial or educational purposes”. 

The historic Ultimo suburb has been refreshed in recent years with new infill, adaptive reuse and cultural developments, such as the Powerhouse Museum renewal, which was approved earlier this year.