Planning approval for the Victoria Cross over-station development in the new North Sydney business district has now been granted by the government of New South Wales (NSW). In 2018, Lendlease had been awarded the AU$476m contract for Victoria Cross Station and the building above it.
The Victoria Cross over-station development is one of 19 projects included in the third tranche of the NSW government’s Planning System Acceleration Program, which is fast-tracking planning assessments to keep people in jobs and the economy moving during the Covid-19 crisis.
The newly approved over-station scheme also includes a new community hub, a pedestrian link from the station plaza and almost 1,300 square metres of new public open space.
Minister for planning and public spaces Rob Stokes and minister for transport Andrew Constance have this week inspected Victoria Cross Metro Station’s underground construction site. The site includes Australia’s largest rail cavern, which measures 265m long, 25m wide and 20m high. Excavation of the Metro and service tunnels is now complete, and the cavern and tunnels are being lined with concrete.
Stokes said: “The integrated station development at the new Victoria Cross Metro Station will double the available public open space near the tower and create a continuous ‘civic green spine’ along Miller Street, with landscaped terraces, outdoor dining, casual seating areas and pedestrian paths. North Sydney is already a strong commercial hub for Greater Sydney and this project will provide a much-needed boost, injecting $315 million into the economy and creating between 400-600 construction jobs to deliver the over station development.”
Constance said the integrated development will provide better connectivity for a growing part of the city. “This tower will provide space for more than 4,000 office workers on top of a world-class public transport system, which is not only transforming our city’s public transport network, it’s transforming the areas around it,” he said.
Station fit-out works on the Victoria Cross Metro Station are scheduled to begin in early 2021, with the tower expected to be completed by mid-2024.
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