North Sydney skyline gets $2.5 billion funding

After a decade-long push by the local council, North Sydney's skyline is finally getting over $2.5 billion worth of investment. The funds will be utilised to bolster the business district on the northern part of the bridge to push for economic power. Two skyscrapers in the centre of North Sydney on Mount Street and a 30-storey commercial tower on Denison Street will stand tall in the next few years.

Joseph Hill, the council's director of city strategy, believes that the boom was strengthened by the council’s effort to draw commercial development in Central Business District (CBD), which they have been doing for decades. He said the council "started looking seriously at the CBD" in 2005 after lagging growth across North Sydney.

Hill is confident that the 10 years they have spent doing the work is now coming together in a very swift manner. Since 2012, the value of approvals granted reached about $2.5 billion.

Mayor Jilly Gibson has attested that CBD is indeed striving. She said North Sydney is now awake from "deep slumber." According to her, evidence that North Sydney is flourishing is the huge number of cranes.

One of North Sydney’s major accomplishments is a 30-storey office tower on the Pacific Highway. It was claimed as the district’s tallest building when it officially opened in 2016.

Aside from the skyscrapers, the council also seeks to redevelop the Ward Street precinct at the northern end of the central business district. The plan is to transform the area into a new public space with more residential and commercial blocks.

Daily Telegraph has reported that the Bayer Building could be demolished to make way for an 85m tower with about 120 apartments. The tower is located across the Warringah Freeway. A planning proposal is already being reviewed by the council.

Correction on Jan. 27: Mayor Jilly Gibson was originally referred to as male. This is incorrect. The article has now been modified.