The revamp of Darling Harbour will now include a new 44-storey office tower on the waterfront, at Darling Park towers, featuring updated retail stores and a Cockle Bay amphitheatre, according to a development application which has been lodged with the Department of Planning and Environment NSW.
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The project, which is valued at about $1 billion, will be split among the three owners of the Darling Park complex - GPT Wholesale Office Fund, AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund and Brookfield.
Under the plans, the tower would be built next to, and partially above, the western distributor freeway at Cockle Bay Wharf, which spans the eastern side of Darling Harbour from Pyrmont Bridge and south towards the Imax Sydney, which is being turned into a new hotel.
The proposal also include over a hectare of green public space, creating a natural amphitheatre for the public.
The first of the three Darling Park office towers opened in 1994. It' now home to the Commonwealth Bank.
The plan is to re-connect Sydney's CBD with Darling Harbour, where the new International Convention Centre, known as ICC Sydney has opened with a new Sofitel hotel being constructed next door.
The ICC is spread over 250,000 square metres at Darling Harbour and is said to be a new "global benchmark in exhibition and convention venues and an important city-shaping project set to transform Sydney".
Joint venture partners Hassell + Populous worked together to design the new convention, exhibition and entertainment venues for Sydney, which they said were inspired by the site's city and harbour surrounds as well as Cockle Bay's history.
Nearby, Mirvac has plans to develop its Harbourside shopping centre and build an apartment tower near the Maritime Museum.
The details of the Darling Park Stage One Development Application (DA), which will establish the parameters for the design of the project, were initially made public during the masterplanning phase of the development earlier this year.
Consortium representative, Matthew Faddy, GPT's head of office and logistics, said one of the hallmarks of the proposal is to create a new, elevated public space, along with a premier retail, cafe and dining precinct.
He said pending approval for the Stage One DA, an international competition would be held to determine the proposed design of the landmark precinct.
"It is an exciting time for this precinct, and an opportunity to reestablish Cockle Bay as the top entertainment destination for Sydney families and international visitors," Mr Faddy said.
"We have been consulting with the local community, businesses and the general public on the design for the new precinct. The development approval process will give the owners more opportunity to match the details of that design with public expectations for Cockle Bay.
"It provides a unique opportunity to create an impressive public green space by building over the Western Distributor, which -while an important transport artery - has cut off the city from Darling Harbour for too long."
He said the project would inject at least $1 billion into the NSW economy, and continue to provide commercial and retail spaces befitting of Sydney's "global city status".
The project is subject to internal approvals and commerce being met.
