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A 20,000-seat concert venue proposed as the heart of a major revamp of the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney’s east is several years away as the state government searches for a development partner to take over a lucrative long-term lease for the precinct.
The Minns government last month opened expressions of interest for proposals to help the under-utilised Entertainment Quarter next to Moore Park’s sports grounds to “reach its full potential” by redeveloping the site as a drawcard for entertainment, sport and creative industries.
The 11-hectare Entertainment Quarter in Sydney’s Moore Park is owned by a private consortium on a long-term lease.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Music and Night-time Economy Minister John Graham said Sydney had faced a dearth of live music and entertainment venues since the Sydney Entertainment Centre at Haymarket was razed in 2016.
Graham said a 15,000 to 20,000-seat indoor arena was “a preferred outcome” of the revamp and would fill a gap between the ICC Sydney and the 21,000-seat Qudos Bank Arena at Homebush.
“It’s envisioned this would be a space for live performances, sport and public events, contributing to the Entertainment Quarter’s role as a cultural and entertainment precinct,” Graham said.
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The government is pushing ahead with long-vaunted plans to revitalise the Moore Park precinct to complement its policies aimed at rebooting Sydney’s entertainment and hospitality industries.
Mystery surrounds the deal that secured business consortium Carsingha Investments a conditional exit from its lease, which is due to expire in 2036, with a 10-year option to extend. Graham would not comment on terms of the agreement, citing commercial in confidence.
Entertainment Quarter chairman Tony Shepherd said the decision to open tenders was “a wonderful initiative”, and one he believed could “lead to the creation of the world’s best entertainment centre”.
“We subscribe to what the government is seeking to do, and we’ll do our best,” Shepherd said.
City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Miller said the deal was a “win-win” for the consortium, which she assumed would either win a new lease of up to 99 years or receive “a huge payout”.
“People are not doing this out of altruism because they want to see an activated precinct – they’re doing it because it’s an incredibly well-located piece of land worth a fortune,” Miller said.
“It’s public land. I like to think the government will be working to get the best outcome for the community.”
Asked whether the exit agreement represented a “win-win” for Carsingha, Shepherd said: “We understand the government – congratulations to them – have done everything in their power to level the playing field.
“They are deadly serious about it. We’re not taking anything for granted.”
The government hopes the revamp will draw more visitors at night and midweek.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Shepherd said the time frame for the redevelopment would be subject to a competitive tender.
“I’m not going to give away all our details, other than to say we’re going to give [the government] all our parameters and assumptions because this is a serious competition.”
The consortium’s high-profile investors, including Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey, venture capitalist Mark Carnegie and businessman John Singleton, bought the lease for the site in 2014, touting the $80 million purchase as a rare opportunity to develop on land in inner Sydney.
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But plans to overhaul the 11-hectare site have stalled. In 2019, Carsingha submitted an unsolicited bid for a divisive redevelopment including a 20-storey office block, hotel and sports precinct.
The consortium had lobbied the state government for a lease extending beyond 2046 in return for the upgrades. They withdrew their proposal in 2022 when changes to legislation meant an open tender process had to be conducted for a new lease at the Entertainment Quarter.
Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, a critic of Carsingha’s earlier proposal to increase commercial uses at the site, said the consortium had sought public feedback and “done a total reset”.
“I believe Carsingha has done the work to rebuild community trust,” Greenwich said.
Urban Taskforce developer lobby chief executive Tom Forrest, a former Labor staffer, expected the tender process, expressions of interest for which close on December 5, would take a year or two, and construction of the potential 20,000-seat venue would probably take another one to two years.
The Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries have recently been added to the state heritage register. Credit: Nick Moir
“Realistically we’re talking about a three to four-year minimum before we see [shows] there.
“We’ve got the skills and capacity to do it within the development sector. In many respects, timing is up to government – the more red tape and bureaucracy they put in the way, the slower it will be.”
Committee for Sydney think tank chief executive Eamon Waterford said the site had the potential to become “one of the pre-eminent, vibrant precincts for the city”.
Waterford said the revamp was a chance to stitch together the various spots and reasons for which people visited, including sports matches, live shows, bars and restaurants, movies, and creative workplaces including the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and Disney Studios.
He said an arena would be the “missing piece in the puzzle” between small venues and those for larger crowds such as Sydney Football Stadium, Centennial Park and Randwick Racecourse.
“The government doesn’t have a lot of money – we’re in a fiscally constrained environment – so the ability to leverage private capital to contribute to the cost of delivering what is a critical gap in the cultural fabric of the city, through an EOI process, is a good opportunity.”
Graham said the final details of the 20,000-seat venue and programming would be subject to industry proposals. Greenwich hoped the successful tender would include a new 2000-seat theatre.
“We are losing out to interstate [venues] because of our limited theatre space,” Greenwich said.
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A place-making framework will guide the revamp, which the government wants to be commercially viable, increase visitation, create new venues, celebrate heritage, integrate the precinct with parkland, sport and entertainment facilities, and keep the site as mostly public space.
The government recently listed the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries on the State Heritage Register. The listing does not include the Entertainment Quarter.
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