Toxic Material Fears Stop Work at $6 Billion Barangaroo Project Again

A SECOND work stoppage in three months has plagued the much hyped development of Lend Lease Group’s $6 billion Barangaroo project, on a waterfront piece of the Sydney CBD.

Crumbled asbestos, believed to have been disturbed by trucks or other heavy vehicles accessing the site, are believed to have caused the concern this time. About 40 staff downed tools due to fear about toxic materials.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) will meet today (June 26) to determine whether it was safe to resume work.

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Lend Lease’s APPF Commercial Buys Into $6 Billion Barangaroo Development

LEND Lease’s “institutional flagship fund” APPF Commercial has reportedly acquired a small interest within the first two skyscrapers that will form part of the $6 billion Barangaroo project on Sydney Harbour.

It is speculated APPF’s stake is as little as between 7 and 12.5 per cent, which would exclude it from any decision making power on the project. Lend Lease and APPF Commercial declined to comment on the speculation reported by the AFR.

It’s understood major office tenants including Westpac and KPMG are to be announced as tenants in the two towers.

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Sydney CBD’s $6 Billion Barangaroo Redevelopment Set to Start Construction After Years of Protest

NEW state premier Barry O’Farrell will personally supervise the controversial $6 billion Barangaroo urban renewal project, set to replace industrial land –  part of a Sydney Harbour container terminal, that ceased functioning in 2003.

The waterside project will include a compound of skyscrapers, one being a hotel that will jut into the water, in a copy of Dubai’s Burj al Arab tower.

The redevelopment was lobbied against by Greens groups and local councils, as well as wealthy Sydneysiders whose views will be lost. Protesters argued planning approvals were flawed, and resulted from the “mates” culture of the previous state Labor government.

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PWC Considering Leasing Office Space at Barangaroo

PRICEWATERHOUSECoopers – which recently went against the grain by leasing an office building just out of the Melbourne CBD as its headquarters – may be looking to do the same in Sydney.

The professional services group is reportedly considering leasing an office building at the Barangaroo project.

Lend Lease will develop the $6 billion project, which is expected to have about 350,000 square metres of offices, with towers permitted to rise as high as 213 metres.

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Sydney Metro Spends $120 Million Acquiring Sites

Kristina KeneallySYDNEY Metro, the government arm which will commandeer the construction of the city’s new metro rail system, has paid $120 million for offices in the city centre.

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said Sydney Metro had now stopped buying sites, until the government makes its final decision about the project “shortly” – but a further  $180 million on property acquisitions is put away to be spent, to fund the project, the AFR reports.

Sydney Metro confirmed it has purchased 30 and 36 Clarence Street and 131 Bathurst Street, in the Sydney CBD, and two smaller offices in Rozelle, in the city’s inner west.

 

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