Elizabeth Street Redfern Developer Registration of Interest 20 Dec 2017

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The Government will redevelop
the Elizabeth Street site and is asking the private and not-for-profit sector
to register their interest in delivering more social and affordable housing
under the Communities Plus program. The ROI process closes 12pm Thursday
15 February 2018.

The ROI process is used to
assess interest in the development. It will be followed by an EOI process for
consortiums of Developers and Community housing providers. It is expected the
successful party from the EOI process will work with LAHC in the Elizabeth St
master planning process.

Currently there are no planning
controls set for the Elizabeth Street site but media coverage from Channel 7
indicated a guess of around 500 units on the site. While the site has been
declared a State Significant Precinct, no study requirements have been issued
so the process to set the planning controls has not started. The 500 figure is
a guess that may or may not result from the planning process.

It is expected that the
successful consortium from the EOI process will work with LAHC on the SSD
studies to do the studies that will set the planning controls.

This is a different process to
Waterloo where the master planning will set the controls before the involvement
of potential developers. LAHC expects that by starting the ROI process now that
delivery of the development will be sped up with design happening in tandem
with the formulation of the proposed controls.

Contrary to the Channel 7 report
which reported the affordable housing coming out of the 30% social housing, the
development is to follow the Communities Plus model with a target of up to 30%
social housing and the balance 70% of private housing including 5% affordable
housing. On the 500 unit guestimate, the development would deliver around 150
new social housing units on the site.

It appears that the Redfern
Police and Citizens Youth Club (PCYC), which will move into a larger
purpose-built community recreational facility as part of the future
redevelopment and that there will be no interruption to the PCYC service during
construction. It is not clear what specific arrangements may have been directly
entered into with PCYC.

A large proportion of public
housing tenants in the adjoining Redfern housing estate are not youth and there
is currently no adequate community centre / facility servicing the complex
needs of the Redfern public housing community. Hopefully the SSD requirements
will allow for the possibility of a general community facility on the site not just
a replacement for PCYC.

Public Information sources:

 

The FACS Media Release:

Vibrant new mixed housing precinct in Redfern

21 Dec 2017

A brand new mix of private, social and
affordable housing in the heart of Redfern will offer vital housing
support for those who need it most in Sydney’s inner city.

Minister
for Social Housing Pru Goward said the Government will redevelop the
Elizabeth Street site and is asking the private and not-for-profit
sector to register their interest in delivering more social and
affordable housing under the Communities Plus program.

“Here in
Redfern, as at many other sites across Sydney, the NSW Government is
building mixed housing developments of social, affordable and private
housing that create transformative new communities,” Ms Goward said.

“This
precinct is perfectly situated for tenants, with easy access to the new
Waterloo metro and existing Redfern train station, local employment,
education and support services, as well as shopping.”
The Redfern
site is currently vacant apart from the Redfern Police and Citizens
Youth Club (PCYC), which will move into a modern new facility.
There will be no interruption to the PCYC service during construction.

“PCYC
has been an integral part of the community of Redfern and South Sydney
for over 65 years offering a range of activities and programs that get
the community and young people active in life,” said PCYC Chief
Executive Dominic Teakle.
“We are very excited with the commitment
that the Government has made to redevelop a new PCYC that will serve the
community of Redfern and south Sydney.”
The Communities Plus program
will deliver up to 23,500 new and replacement social and affordable
housing dwellings, and up to 40,000 private homes over the next 10
years. Other sites in Western Sydney under Communities Plus include
Telopea, Liverpool, South Granville and St Marys.
For information on Redfern visit: https://www.communitiesplus.com.au/major-sites/redfern