You can see the outline
submitted to the Department at Modification to Pemulwuy Mixed Use Development, Redfern.
Care should be taken with the visuals submitted for the new building as the
department has placed some design excellence requirements on the application
and the AHC will use a new architect and a design panel so the building
appearance will not be as shown in this initial application.
The AHC is
proposing to significantly increase the size of the student housing development
alongside the railway line (to the east of Eveleigh Street) to “provide the
critical mass of development required to enable the AHC to complete the entire
Project, i.e. all of the development in Precincts P1, P2 and P3, without having
to rely on outside funding sources”.
No changes are
proposed for the already approved affordable housing on The Block or for the
childcare and office development where the AHC offices were located.
In its
application the AHC says:
“The underlying purpose of the modified
development is to facilitate the economic use and development of the land by
the AHC.The currently approved development was
designed to make the Project economically viable and deliverable using: grants
provided by the State and Federal Governments, including the National Rental
Affordability Scheme; philanthropic grants; commercial borrowings; and the
limited financial resources available to the AHC. However, insufficient funds
could be made available by the various levels of Government and philanthropists
and the AHC will be required to fund the Project using commercial borrowings.To do so will require additional
student housing to be established in Precinct P3. It has been determined that
522 accommodation rooms would be required to provide the critical mass of
development to enable the AHC to complete the entire Project, without having to
rely on funding from Government or philanthropic grants.”
The AHC changes
have been developed to meet the specifications of The Pad Student
Living a Brisbane based student-housing provider, who will lease and
operate the site to accommodate both indigenous and non-indigenous students
attending nearby tertiary educational institutions. [Pad Student living was taken over by Altira and subsequently by Scape]
The approved
development next the railway line (Precinct 3) was for a 3 and 6 storey
mixed-use building with a floor space ratio of 2.9:1 containing: 1,100m2
of retail/commercial space; a 475m2 gallery; and student housing
accommodating a total of 154 bed spaces in 42 units and a manager’s flat.
Under the new
proposal the gallery and commercial space is lost and the building becomes a
dedicated student housing building ranging in height from 3 to 16 storeys,
having a gross floor area of 17,080m2 and a floor space ratio of
7.16:1. While at its maximum height it would be lower than the 18 storey towers
allowed just to the east of Redfern Station it would have roughly the same
floor space ratio (FSR) which is 7:1 to the east of the station.
It has long
been argued that in the fight over achieving Aboriginal housing on the Block
between the AHC and Minister Frank Sartor, that the AHC received much lower
development controls than the Minister allowed for sites to the East of the
station. The new AHC application may see this finally addressed. Those that
have recently moved into the area around The Block are likely to be concerned
about the substantial increase proposed.
The AHC will
hold a pre-submission consultation in early March at the Redfern Community
Centre with a formal exhibition by the Department in mid-year.
Currently the AHC must
start work on the Pemulwuy project before the current approval expires towards
the end of this year.
The details of the AHC’s application for the modification can be downloaded from: SEARs Request_ Pemulwuy s75W and SSD.pdf
The link to the approved 2012 plans for the Pemulwuy Project can be found here: