Sydney’s Hunter Street Over-Station Towers Approved

Sydney Metro has been given the green light to develop a double-tower atop the Hunter Street Station. 

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully has granted consent to Sydney Metro’s state-significant proposals for a 51-storey office tower, ahead of a detailed design of the building that will be subject to a future development application.

In his response, the minister said that the project would “provide a range of benefits for the region and the state as a whole, including creation of 8000 full-time jobs”.

The tower would have a gross floor area of 70,237sq m including 66,239sq m commercial uses, 933sq m retail uses and 3065sq m of station use. 

At the same time, the transport authority’s 58-storey Hunter Street East tower has also been approved, comprising a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 84,223sq m, with a podium for retail and commerical uses.

The proposals for the site—covering 5, 7-13 and 9 Hunter Street as well as several addresses on George Street—also include the adaptive reuse of the former Skinners Family Hotel for commercial or retail premises.

The hotel is heritage-listed former pub built in the 1840s, and one of the few remaining Old Colonial Regency buildings in the city.

All existing buildings, except for a heritage item at 296 George Street, are currently being demolished for the Metro station works.

▲ The Hunter Street East (B) and West (A) sites will offer commercial and retail spaces.

A planning proposal for the Hunter Street Station east and west sites was approved by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure in December. 

It amended the planning controls that apply to the site under the Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 (SLEP 2012), increasing the floor space ratio (FSR) and building height controls that apply to the sites, as well as permit the use of the Sydney Metro West Design Excellence Strategy in lieu of undertaking a design competition.

It is the latest of a series of station-related projects, as part of Sydney Metro’s wider plans for the government’s $6.5-billion Sydney Metro West rail line.

In addition to Hunter Street, Sydney Metro is proposing over and/or adjacent station developments at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, Burwood North, The Bays, and Pyrmont stations.