City Tatts $760m Skyscraper Finally Approved

Long-awaited plans to redevelop Sydney’s City Tattersalls Club on Pitt Street into a 50-storey hotel and apartment tower have been approved.

The $760-million development, at 198 Pitt Street, will include the redevelopment of the 126-year-old club’s quarters with a 101-room hotel and 241-apartment tower set to rise above.

The project is being overseen by a consortium led by Singapore-based First Sponsor Group and Melbourne-based developer ICD Property, the latter best known as the developer of Melbourne’s 63-storey residential tower EQ.

ICD Property managing director Matt Khoo said the developer was ready to get started on a “rare opportunity” to deliver new residences in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, surrounded by such shopping, dining, and entertainment precincts as Westfield Pitt Street, Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Hyde Park, China Town, and Circular Quay.

The tower has been designed by BVN who were appointed to the project after winning an international design competition last year.

FJMT has been appointed to oversee all heritage design aspects of the redevelopment.

The approval follows three separate bids by the consortium in the past five years to redevelop the historic site.

A proposal put forward three years ago was knocked back by the NSW Land and Environment Court on the basis the airspace development on top of the art deco building would have a negative heritage impact.

Plans, designed by FJMT, were resubmitted in late-2018, addressing heritage conservation elements.

After the decision, the club and Michael Mai’s ICD Property enlisted Singapore’s First Sponsor Group as development partner, bringing construction finance.

The plans submitted in March outlined a refined design which was “respectful of the site’s heritage components, the existing club, and its members; while also producing a beautiful addition to the Sydney skyline”.

First Sponsor Group chief executive Neo Teck Pheng said the group had been attracted to the Australian property market by its stable, long-term growth and a particular uptick in the residential sector during the past 18 months.

“The redevelopment was particularly appealing due to its location in what is arguably the most highly sought after real estate location in ... Australia,” Pheng said.

“It was also appealing due to the hands-on partnership with ICD Property, whose collaboration and local knowledge has been extremely valuable to guiding this project forward.”

ICD Property is now preparing to launch 241 residences to market in early 2022.

Below the residential apartments, hotel conglomerate IHG signed on to operate the upscale hotel and its own amenities for guests with its boutique Hotel Indigo brand.

Construction of the Pitt Street project is currently scheduled to begin in mid-2022 with the demolition of the building at 196 Pitt Street, and alterations and additions to the heritage buildings at 194 and 198-204 Pitt Street.

The development, earmarked for completion in 2026, will sit atop five basement levels which will be excavated for vehicle access to Pitt Street.

The club will retain its original premises and upgraded facilities.