New Library and Civic Centre
Given the progress with the aquatic centre projects, a consultant team earlier this year re-examined the planning controls for the hospital site and prepared a detailed" Land Owners" submission which was lodged into the new LEP process. The submission identified new opportunities for the site that support the development of a new library and/or civic presence on the site.
Further work is underway to develop the options.
Background
The location to be used for the new Library and Civic Centre is the site of the former Marrickville Hospital located at the corner of Marrickville Road and Livingstone Road. Council purchased the site in 1995 following an extensive community consultation process. The proposal to use the site to establish the Civic Centre received widespread support. It was also identified at that time that the size of Council’s library was insufficient to meet community needs, and that there was a need to improve citizen service and to accommodate Council’s administrative staff in the one building.
A draft Local Environment Plan (LEP) and a draft Development Control Plan (DCP) for the site was adopted by Council in 1996. Around this time, Council explored a number of options for redeveloping the site and entered into negotiations with the Department of Health to purchase 3 adjoining properties. While purchase of these properties would improve the configuration of the site, negotiations with the Department were unsuccessful.
Council continued to explore options for redeveloping the site until 1997, including seeking Expressions of Interest for the design of the redevelopment. In December, 1997 Council resolved to stop that process, and defer any further investigation into the redevelopment. At that time, the requirement to remediate Tempe Lands became Council’s focus. The main features of this project were completed in 2005.
In its 2003/04 Resources Plan Budget, Council allocated an initial sum of money to prepare a preliminary concept development for a new Library and Civic Centre.
In 2005 specialist heritage, urban design and planning and financial consultants were appointed to provide advice on the project. These consultants undertook a series of studies to determine the feasibility of redeveloping the site to accommodate a new Library and Civic Centre, including whether complementary uses such as residential and/or mixed residential/commercial use development can be accommodated on the site to assist in funding the project. The main studies included heritage assessment, facilities and functional design study, an urban design and planning study, and a financial feasibility study.
In February 2006 Council considered the advice provided by these specialists and the range of options which had been developed. Council selected a preferred option that was affordable and provided for the retention of heritage elements and a feasible development to assist the funding of the new Library and Civic Centre, and agreed to further proceed with the project.
Following a resolution by Council at its August 2006 meeting, Council has recently acquired the NSW Health properties at 182, 184 and 186 Livingstone Road, Marrickville, and to incorporate them with the New Library/Civic Centre redevelopment site. Council has also supported exploring options to provide an affording housing component within the new development.
The concept plan
When Council considered the various options for the site in February 2006, careful consideration was given to the financial, urban design and heritage issues relevant to a development at that location. The option Council has adopted allows for:
- retention of the existing Department of Health buildings;
- retention of Buildings A, B and C and the laneway of the former Marrickville Hospital;
- demolition of the former Marrickville Hospital Nurses Home and Boiler Room buildings;
- redevelopment of a six + one storey building on the corner of Marrickville and Livingstone Roads, consisting of a new Library and Civic Centre on the first 3 levels, with residential units above and a basement car park;
- redevelopment of a new, seven + one storey residential building to replace the former Nurses Home building in the north-west corner of the site;
- redevelopment of a new residential building to replace the former Boiler Room building in the north-east corner of the site; and
- the purchase of a small portion of land of the adjoining Department of Health properties along Livingstone Road in order to regularise the boundary alignment of Council's proposed redevelopment site.
A new library and new civic facilities
The proposal being developed incorporates a new Marrickville Library and Civic Centre at the heart of the site.
Council undertook community consultation on its library services in 2005. That consultation identified the need for a new central library with provision for increased and more attractive space and facilities. It also identified the need to provide an increased range of services, including more technology, social opportunities and dedicated facilities for young people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Council also considered the current best practice standards of the State Library of NSW. Building a new library will allow Council to respond to a broad range of community interests and concerns through delivering significantly improved library facilities which meet prescribed requirements.
The proposal also allows for Council’s existing Administration Centre in Petersham to be replaced with a new facility. This will deliver additional community facilities, meeting rooms, alleviate the current overcrowding and ageing of the existing Petersham Administrative Centre, a new Council Chamber and a new Citizens Service Centre. Importantly, it will create this facility in the heart of the local government area.
The financial model
Council's approach to delivering the package of major projects is that the outcomes must be based on affordability and meeting the broadest range of community interests. Council's financial models must be in the best interests of the community and be backed up by independent expert advice and rigorous review.
Recent refinements of the funding package required for the project, based on the earlier estimates of the financial feasibility study and the preferred Option 8, provide for a total project cost of $37.75 million. This will be funded by:
- revenue from sale of residential portions of the site ($16.9 million);
- cash contribution from Council ($18 million, incorporating $13 million from the property reserve and $5 million from working funds); and
- sale of Council's Fisher Street, Petersham, property ($4.6 million).
As part of the ongoing review, Council is committed to undertaking a comprehensive process of community consultation. A financial viability assessment will be undertaken at each stage of developing the project before deciding to proceed to the next stage. Council will consult with the community and will provide updated and detailed information about the financial models whenever possible.
Further planning investigations
Given their involvement in the previous feasibility investigations, it was decided to appoint the firm Architectus to prepare a draft rezoning and development control plan (DCP) for the former Marrickville Hospital site, as the most appropriate means of advancing Council’s endorsed redevelopment Option 8(c) for the New Library/Civic Centre project.
Initial drafts of the rezoning and DCP were submitted to the Major Projects Steering Committee in late 2006. It became apparent in the review of the Draft DCP that there were a number of variations in the design and floor space arrangements as compared to Council’s endorsed redevelopment option 8(c), including modifications to building envelopes and setbacks, the introduction of a mezzanine level within the proposed library component of the Southern Civic building, the introduction of new planning control for the size and mix of residential units, and revised car parking requirements. It was recognised that these differences were likely to have an impact on the financial modelling for the project, and therefore Architectus was requested to provide more detailed information on the expected floor space yields and indicative architectural layouts that could be achieved under the Draft DCP.
Purchase of Livingstone Road NSW Health properties
Concurrent to these investigations, progress was made by Council in respect of the NSW Health properties at Nos. 182, 184 and 186 Livingstone Road. Council resolved at the 15 August, 2006, Council Meeting (Item GM 63, 07/06), to purchase the properties from NSW Health at the market value of $1.65M, without conditions. Settlement of the sale transaction subsequently took place in May, 2007, and Council also undertook the formal processes required to classify the subject properties as “Operational Land”, as required under the Local Government Act, 1993.
Feasibility review produced for Council by Incoll
In response to the budgetary implications of the lower expected residential yields from the revised redevelopment concept of the Architectus draft rezoning and DCP, the project management and development firm, Incoll, was engaged in early 2007 to undertake a review of the financial viability of Council’s endorsed redevelopment option 8(c), as well as a redevelopment in accordance with Architectus’ revised Draft DCP for the former Marrickville Hospital site.
It was evident form the analysis by Incoll, that the project in its current form is not financially viable as there is insufficient residential yield from development of the site, insufficient available Council funding, and an insufficient contingency buffer for Council to proceed with the previously endorsed redevelopment concept Option 8(c), or the modified draft DCP concepts produced by the firm Architectus. These previous proposals were also unable to provide sufficient space to accommodate the total amount of staff accommodation required to achieve the original goal of all staff being on the one site.
A report was therefore submitted to the 20 November, 2007 Council Meeting, recommending that Council review the previous redevelopment concepts and financial feasibility advice, in order to determine a revised, financially feasible proposal, or to consider other reduced civic facility options such as those recommended in the report by Michael Collins and Associates in 2005/2006.
A copy of the report to this meeting can be viewed here:
Council resolved at this meeting to defer further consideration of this project pending a report on the development potential of the Marrickville Hospital site if it was “unconstrained by the existing improvements on the site”. To date, options explored have provided for the retention of all heritage buildings on the site. It was stated in the debate at the Council Meeting that it was important to explore all options in an endeavour to meet Council’s objective of building a new Library/Civic Centre on the site which accommodates all administrative staff and that the requested report would assist Council in weighing up if it can achieve that objective having regard to heritage considerations, appropriate development levels for the site and the objective of providing affordable housing as part of the residential development.
Decision on library/civic centre deferred until after completion of pool projects
Following a series of reports from external consultants, Council resolved at its meeting of 18 March, 2008 (Item GM 24, 02/08) to defer any decision in relation to the new Library/Civic Centre until the pool projects are complete or there is a significant turn around in the residential property market.
A copy of the report to this meeting can be viewed here:
The decision to defer the Library/Civic Centre Project was made because the financial viability studies show that the Project is currently not financially viable. There are two reasons for that:
- the downturn in the property market, with the expected residential yield from development of the hospital site dropping significantly. The Project provides for the sale of the balance of the site that is not required for the new Library/Civic Centre, for residential development, with the income received from the sale partly funding the building of the new Library/Civic Centre. When the projections were originally made they were based on receiving $100,000 per unit from selling the balance of the site and that estimate has now dropped to $80,000 per unit, which is a significant amount for a yield of around 150 apartments on the original adopted option;
- the drop in the available funding from Council’s Property Reserve. That drop is essentially because of Council’s decision to use Property Reserve funds for the upgrade of Enmore Pool. The Financial Plan originally adopted by Council provided for the cost of the upgrades of Enmore Pool and Petersham Pool to be funded by a 3.5% Special Rate Levy over 15 years. At that time, the proposal was for a 25-metre pool at Enmore, at a cost of $10 million. Subsequently, Council decided to provide a 50-metre pool at Enmore at a cost of $13 million, with the additional $3 million to be funded from the Property Reserve. Under the Financial Plan, the other Major Projects were to be funded from the Property Reserve, principally the new Library/Civic Centre. Late last year, the Enmore Pool Upgrade cost increased to $14.276 million, with Council resolving to fund the additional cost from the Property Reserve. At it’s 18 March, 2008 meeting, Council considered a revised costing of the Enmore Pool Upgrade of $18 million and resolved to proceed with the 50 m pool option at that cost, with the increase of almost $4 million to be funded from the Property Reserve. The Project now has $8 million in funding from the Property Reserve. It should be noted however, that if Council had reconsidered its decision to revert to a 25m pool which was one of my recommendations, the anticipated cost would be in the order of $14 million, requiring $4 million of Property Reserve funding, because of cost increases since the Project was first adopted.
In real terms, Council’s decision means that it will be retaining the current office accommodation and citizen service functions at the Petersham Administration Building for the immediate future.
In terms of the former Marrickville Hospital site, Council officers will commence an investigation into the most appropriate short and medium term use and maintenance of the site. Residents surrounding the site will be informed of any proposals to alter the current use of the site.
In the interim, Council is moving forward on a proposal to upgrade it’s Depot site at Sydenham to re-locate Technical Services Division staff to Building A. The proposal will provide short-term relief of the current overcrowding of the Administration Building and provide a more effective working relationship between the Business Units staff and the balance of Technical Services Division staff.
At its meeting of 19 February, 2008 (Item GM 11, 01/08), Council resolved to accept the tender and endorse a consulting consortium led by DTB Architects P/L as the preferred group to undertake the design, approvals and documentation processes required for the re-location of Technical Services staff to Building A of Council’s Depot.
The consultants will work closely with Council staff and Senior Management to ensure that the new accommodation facilities meet the needs of the varied range of internal and external stakeholders.
A DA is expected to be lodged by August 2008, and construction is expected to be completed by late 2009.
Project Timeline
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