Stasia Upgrades Surry Hills Office Plans

Stasia is moving ahead on its office proposal near Sydney’s Central Train Station as Tech Central tenants prepare to move in.

The project, originally expected to be completed in 2023, faced difficult headwinds but is now making progress with an extra storey of office space added to sweeten the deal.

The now 10-storey plans were in the community feedback stage with the City of Sydney after it was issued a Gateway Determination.

This adds 2000sq m of commercial space, creating 6339sq m in total for the proposal at 232-240 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills.

The plans by Candalepas Associates include a new laneway that would connect Reservoir Street with Foster Lane across the 906sq m site, which currently has two and three-storey buildings on it.

Previously, concept plans for a mixed-use building were approved at the Land and Environment Court in 2017 for Patglen for a hotel, and retail and residential space.

▲ The site is opposite the railway line at the corner of Reservoir Street.

Records show Stasia Holdings Pty Ltd picked up the properties in 2020 and sought advice for a new proposal in 2022, which was filed in February this year, and had already been discussed at council meetings.

This development would replace five separate terrace buildings that had been heavily modified over the years to accomodate a strip of shops.

“It shares common boundaries with a nine-storey residential building to the north and a six-storey commercial building to the east,” the council prepared planning report said.

“[In] an area identified as an existing employment cluster, this is supporting employment uses particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors such as health, education, creative industries, professional services and information media.”

▲ Renders of the planned office block at Surry Hills.

The Sydney-based developer had 20 properties around the Sydney CBD with plans in the works for 117 Flinders Street also at Surry Hills, 163-171 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst and The Portherhouse at 233 Riley Street, again, at Surry Hills.

One of Stasia’s most recent completions was Foveaux HQ, which was leased to software start-up Safety Culture, said, by its founder, to be “following in the footsteps of Atlassian and Canva”.

Designs for Canva’s new headquarters were unveiled earlier this year on nearby Kippax Street, which reflect the “unique vibe” of the company.

Meanwhile, Atlassian has made minor modifications to the lower parts of its tower at Tech Central, which is under construction.