Future Directions interActive event wrap up
320 property people filled Level 2 at the Establishment for the first Future Directions interActive event of the financial year. They were keen to hear from our panel of experts on ‘Changing our CBD Landscape’ and moderator Louise Mason from AMP Capital kicked things off with the seemingly innocuous question
“Is Sydney a global city?”
Michael Bate took the view that in retail terms it was not. In his view Sydney has missed out on attracting leading international brands because it simply does not have the floor space that they require, specifically within the shrinking retail core around Pitt Street. As a result, most of these major players are more likely to go to Melbourne first where the retail core is larger and there are more leasing options. The good news is that Sydney and Melbourne are easy ‘bolt-on’ cities to their networks and in Michaels view, most of the global brands are now just awaiting the right opportunities on George Street and at Martin Place.
“Westfield London demonstrates great design, great use of urban principles. It’s a good example of how to integrate larger retailers into the high street format that Londoners value so much” – MB
Jeff Goodling delved into the delivery of Light Rail down George Street and the uplift in liveability of cities that comes with good infrastructure but conceded that it will take some time to evaluate the two tenders for the project and construction will likely not begin for at least a year.
Future Directions interActive #1 Photos
“There’s going to be disruption but it’s a great opportunity once Light Rail is installed, George Street is going to be as attractive as Pitt Street, we call it the 100% corner” – JG
Chris Chapple spoke specifics on a broad range of topics from hotels to commercial leasing, from regulators to the influx of capital from super funds and Chinese insurers. One of the challenges facing Sydney is how to accommodate a growing residential population and associated amenity within the CBD without compromising the commercial core.
“The tradition of having a single core city has been broken. In the future, Sydney will be emphasising its hubs linked by transport and greenways” – CC
We’d like to thank all of our speakers and also Louise Mason for deftly directing the discussion and asking all the hard questions. The next interActive is a one-on-one with Mr Triguboff himself. The last 3 interActive’s have all sold out early so get in quick!