Old brewery site to become Sydney park
The developers call it "Central Park", but NSW's US-born Premier Kristina Keneally denies suggestions she's trying to "Americanise" Sydney.
The CEO of the developer, Frasers Property Australia, Stanley Quek, chose the name because of the site's proximity to Central Station and Broadway.
"I hope very soon that people will say, 'meet you at Central Park'," Dr Quek told reporters at the site on Monday.
At the announcement of the park project's approval by the NSW Department of Planning, Ms Keneally said the entire $1.3 billion development, which will also include shops, homes and offices, would create more than 1,200 construction and 6,000 ongoing jobs.
"The site is creating jobs close to home and public transport," she said.
The 5.8 hectare public park - expected to be accessible to the public in 12 months - will return open space to a part of the city which has been cut off for 150 years.
"The public are getting a major benefit upfront and early, returning much-desired open space to the inner city," Ms Keneally told reporters.
The $6 million park development includes landscaping, tree planting, gardens, paved areas and water features.
"This site represents significant urban renewal for Sydney and it represents significant investment into our city and our state," she said.
The overall project is expected to be completed within eight to 10 years.
There will be a significant affordable housing component to the development, Ms Keneally says.
"We have an obligation to provide just over $30 million of payments to the Redfern Waterloo Authority to fulfil the formal Affordable Housing Component on that site," Frasers' chief operating officer Nicholas Wolf said.
Details of all other parts of the project are yet to be determined.