What's happening at the council depot and Ultimo Public School?

Below Harbour Mill, at the bottom of the escarpment and next to the Wentworth Park Light Rail Station, is the Wattle Street council depot, where they store bricks, stones and equipment. And further along Jones Street is Ultimo Public School, which like many inner city schools, is operating well beyond its intended capacity, due to far more people living in the city than was expected when schools were planned.

In November 2013, it was announced that the council depot would become a new school for up to 1,000 students. Here is part of the Herald report:

Parents have welcomed a proposal to build a new primary school in Ultimo, accommodating up to 1000 students.

With surging enrolments putting pressure on inner-city schools, a working party was set up to examine solutions. It agreed on a preferred option to build a new school in Ultimo, on a Wattle Street site owned by the City of Sydney.

Students and staff at Ultimo Public School will move to the new school when it is completed, allowing the existing grounds to be sold.

The department is in negotiations with the City of Sydney over the site, a former council depot on 12,246 square metres, and will develop a project submission for the NSW Treasury.

Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the development "will cater for local demographics well into the future".

“In addition to state-of-the-art public education and community facilities eventually catering for up to 1000 students, the new Ultimo/Pyrmont Public School will also have after-school hours care facilities," he said.

So far so good. If anyone who has bought in Harbour Mill would prefer not to have a school next door (noise from screaming children?), then it's better than the alternative of blocks of 20-storey apartments. A new school would bring activity to the area and certainly increase demand for living at Harbour Mill, and because the school is at the bottom of the cliff, the increase in traffic would probably not be at the Harbour Mill end of Jones Street. So on balance it's a good use of the land, and we certainly need more schools.

But last week, there was a stalling in negotiations. The problem is that schools are provided by the NSW Government, but the depot is owned by the City of Sydney Council. Which means they have to agree on a purchase price. City of Sydney estimates the land is worth $120 million, while the NSW Government has offered only $74 million. Here is the story:

The new primary school in Ultimo to help solve the shortage of inner-city schools will not be ready by 2017 as promised, unless the City of Sydney offers the state government a discount on the $100 million site.

A working party established to increase primary school capacity in the area agreed last October that the Wattle Street property was the preferred site to establish a school for 1000 students.

The department is prepared to fork out $74 million for the old council depot on Wattle Street, which includes a concession for the cost of remediating the severely contaminated site.

But the City of Sydney is asking market value for the site, which they put at up to $120 million, less $9.5 million for the cost of decontamination.

Cr Moore says it is the state government's responsibility to fund public schools, not local government.

"The land belongs to City ratepayers and proceeds from the sale have been earmarked for community facilities that the Council is responsible for, including new childcare, open space and recreational facilities," she said. "Any substantial reduction in the value of our assets will reduce our ability to deliver on these publicly adopted commitments."

In a letter to the Lord Mayor, Minister Piccoli said if the department's standing offer of $74 million was not accepted by the end of the month, "the department will need to go back to the community to attempt to find an alternative site".

"I am advised that this process would make the 2017 opening date impossible to meet," he wrote.

Moving the overcrowded Ultimo Public School to a larger site was one of 14 major school projects funded in the state budget. The department's initial offer of $49 million, the value of the site as an education facility, was rejected outright.

Let's hope they can settle it in favour of building a new school rather than private development.

It's all happening in Pyrmont, even the crazy ideas

Everything from the interesting to the plain crazy in the news this week about Pyrmont.

First came the news that major business, government and tourist committees were discussing the concept of a 'Western Harbour Precinct', a coordinated plan for the area to the west of the Harbour Bridge. There is so much happening, especially with Barangaroo, Darling Harbour and the Bay Precinct around the Fish Markets, that a unified vision was needed. Sounds like a good idea, and good to see both Wentworth Park and the Sydney Fish Market included.

This shows again how much is happening around Harbour Mill.

But then we had the weirdest proposal that I don't think has any chance: a cable car linking Pyrmont directly to Barangaroo. What a hoot! Rip down the monorail and put a cable car in its place.

What do you think? Would you like to see a cable car from Pyrmont? I doubt the cost can be justified.

Saturday for a quick look

Now the outside shell of the building is finished, the changes from week to week are not so obvious. Everything is happening on the inside, behind the scaffolding and netting. One day, the 'big reveal' will be dramatic, but that's many months away.

Here's what the building looked like today from Jones Lane at the back. A lot of the external wall panels plus internal gyprock work on the five storey section is underway, and the walls up to say level 7 on the taller building show more progress with fitout. There were plenty of people working on a weekend, but not the heavy numbers of a week day.

Taking a closer peak through the rear gate, the uncovered section (above the blue line) is level 1 in the south east corner, where not only are the internal walls up, but the electric power points are in the wall (you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it). In fact, a tradesman told me some of the kitchen cupboards are already in, and plumbing work in some bathrooms.

Comments on Mezzo, a new development across Wentworth Park

Elena has put the following comments on my blog, which I reproduce for those who do not go back and read previous entries (and please note there is difference between Elana and Elena).

Thanks very much, Elena, very interesting comments.

1. Dear All,
   
   I have very good news for the Harbour Mill purchasers: the upcoming Mezzo development which is across Wentworth park is priced significantly higher than what Harbour Mill was sold at in 2012/2013 (which is consistent with the price growth across Sydney over the last 2 years). Some examples: a small 2 bedroom apartment (72sqm internal), facing south (no views, as the land will be redeveloped to construct another building in front), 1 car space, levels 6-8: price starts at low $1M and grows at c.$35K with each level up.
2. Another example: 2 bedroom apartment, 2 bathrooms, facing Wentworth park, 1 car space, 88sqm internal, levels 6-8, price: mid $1.2M - high $1.3M (price goes up with each floor).
   
   Example of a smaller apartment: 1 bedroom plus flexiroom (study), no car space, facing the park, internal 64sqm (smaller than similar harbour mill plans), price $850K - $950K (going up with every level, starting from level 6).
3. Looking at this prices, we should also take into account that Harbour Mill only has 1 year to completion, whereas Mezzo is due for completion in 2016/2017, a lot more uncertainty.
   
   Also the good news is that Mezzo will have a nice retail space and outdoor terrace with cafes and restaurants, all this is good for the area. Overall, it is very clear that the area around Wentworth park is the next Wooloomooloo and Surry Hills - it is not attractive now, but it is walking distance to the city and it is gradually being redeveloped into a new nice suburb, especially with the Blackwattle bay development plans under way.
4. Hi Elana,
   
   Thank you very much for reposting my comments and, again, thank you for creating this blog! Please let me know if you need any further information - I am also following your blog and the construction process.
   
   Kind regards,
   Elena
5. And we can't have a new blog entry without a photograph. Harbour Mill, central to everywhere! 
6.