TAS/ HOBART - NEWS: Square sell-off dooms eyesore

[Chuq]

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story...7-3462,00.html

April 22, 2008 12:00am

THE 1960s concrete office block that houses public servants and towers over Parliament House has been earmarked for demolition.

Treasurer Michael Aird called the 11-storey building at 10 Murray St a "bad example of brutalist architecture" and said it should be knocked down as part of the redevelopment of Parliament Square.

He yesterday announced the square was on the market, predicting "serious excitement" from developers.

A good thing if you ask me, especially from most of the comments on the page.

My interpretations of the buildings concerned:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie...29ca423e2e80ea

[CULWULLA]

skyscraper count goes down by 1. hobarts shrinking not growing?

[Chuq]

Originally Posted by CULWULLA

skyscraper count goes down by 1. hobarts shrinking not growing?

Yeah, and in the follow up article in todays paper:

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story...1-3462,00.html

"Knocking it down could also mean a huge drop in value, because current planning laws would never allow the height in a replacement."

[Dilaz89]

dissapointing. It should be converted into something.

[castrovalva]

On the other hand, it could be replaced by a newer (better?) skyskraper...

(keep an eye out for cosy back-room matey deals)

[Ordex]

unlikely given the planning restrictions that seem to be on that area
anyway I know someone that works in the building, she seems to think it's a load of bollocks and won't be coming down!

[LanceDriver]

what, nothing higher than this little stumpy is allowed? sheesh!

[Rent a Kill]

Not sure what the logic is behind these height restrictions for Hobart??? Maybe they are scared that if a tall building goes up and turns out to be an eyesore it will be too conspicuous. Wonder if anything big will over go up there...

[LanceDriver]

if tasmania ever booms and hobarts population grows, maybe if the oil and gas reserves prove fruitful as is predicted, then pressure will be on to build taller buildings because the cbd is so small. but without the population growth there is no real pressure to change anything in hobart.

[Chuq]

Originally Posted by LanceDriver

if tasmania ever booms and hobarts population grows, maybe if the oil and gas reserves prove fruitful as is predicted, then pressure will be on to build taller buildings because the cbd is so small. but without the population growth there is no real pressure to change anything in hobart.

Well thats what you would expect, but Hobart has the lowest level of office space occupancy of any Aus capital city - and many small office towers are being built at the moment - so there is certainly scope for a tall office tower in the city.

[OptomistOne]

A series of illustrative panels have now been set up on the corner of Davey Street and Salamanca Place with an overview of the buildings and what the State Government would like to see happen at Parliament Square.

Some interesting comments on the panels. The latest I heard was that a number of significant national developers have expressed a serious interest in parts of the site. However, that was sometime before the credit crunch and general turmoil in the markets so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, will actually transpire development wise.

The sale process is designed to be completed next year. The following is a link to a Treasury and Finance website which gives an overview of the project.

http://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/parliamentsquare

[Tassieboy]

Knock it down it looks dreadful!

[Ordex]

yes tassieboy it does, but I'll take a dreadful looking 14 story block over a nice looking 4 story one!

[OptomistOne]

Originally Posted by Ordex

yes tassieboy it does, but I'll take a dreadful looking 14 story block over a nice looking 4 story one!

Cheers to that Ordex - could not agree more!!!

Add a couple of extra floors and then reclad it and problem solved.

[Tassieboy]

I'd probably take the 4 story building if it's spectacular! Why don't they build a modern $60 million, 15 story mini skyscraper with a mixture of apartments and hotel accommodation at the site! Even in Financial crisis it would be hot property! Especially when the waterfront is developed.

[OptomistOne]

The Request For Tender was released on 12 January 2009 and will close on 6 April 2009.

The respondent(s) for the tender are required to provide refined conceptual designs, as submitted to the Expressions Of Interest advertised late last year, and then provide final financial offers for the site.

The intended outcome of this final stage will be a signed sales contract, subject to development terms and conditions, including milestones for the developer to meet.

Assuming it takes 3 months to assess the proposals, we should get some conceptual plans and information on how the buildings will be developed by the middle of the year - assuming the credit crunch hasn't scuppered the whole deal!

[Tassieboy]

Just when Tassie was finally getting a bit of development the credit crunch occurs

[OptomistOne]

The Treasurer announced today that 3 proposals have made the shortlist and 2 of them involve demo of the State Offices building (which would be a shame but a few mid rises might take its place adding to the density). Here is the link to the Press Release.

http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=26463

If I can find some time and locate where the public exhibition actually is, I might get the chance to have a look and take a few photos. Of course, even when the winning proposal gets the go-ahead it will be interesting to see if funding (the final proposal will cost at least $60 million) is made available - Rudd Bank anyone?

[Chuq]

Some further detail about the project is available here:

http://www2.treasury.tas.gov.au/ps

Of particular interest to those not familiar with the side would be:

http://www2.treasury.tas.gov.au/ps/a...xhibition1.pdf

[OptomistOne]

An image, hopefully, of one the three proposals - I think this one might be called Square (the other two are Circle and Triangle!).