The Cross Street car park was built in the 1970s and due to its condition must undergo extensive repairs or be demolished and rebuilt.

Council on two previous occasions conducted expressions of interest to redevelop the site with a private sector partner under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. On both occasions these redevelopment proposals did not proceed.

Following the withdrawal of the private sector partner on the second occasion, Council resolved at the 29 April 2024 Council meeting to investigate the most appropriate and feasible options for the redevelopment of the car park. 

A report presented to Council's Strategic & Corporate Committee on 17 February 2025 summarised the outcomes of the feasibility analysis about the future redevelopment of the site. The report by consultants HillPDA on options 1-5 may be viewed here or in the Important Links section on this page. At the Council meeting on 24 February 2025 Council requested a number of additional matters be reported to a future meeting of Council.

A report was presented to Council's Strategic & Corporate Committee on 17 November 2025 that outlined an additional three options and recommended that Council proceed with the most viable option. The report by consultants E8 Urban on options 6-8 may be viewed here or in the Document Library. Council resolved at the 26 November 2025 meeting to conduct community consultation on this option (Option 8 in the E8 Urban report).

Our proposal is for a new five-storey car park to be built on the site. This car park would include a minimum of 412 spaces and includes one level of underground parking and parking on the roof level.

Construction of this new car park will take approximately two years (from 2028 to 2030) at an estimated cost of $53.5 million.

To fund this new car park, we propose to sell a portion of the site (approx. 38%). This would involve Council subdividing the site and selling the southern parcel fronting Cross Street to a private party. Council would use the money from the sale to demolish the existing car park and develop a separate, Council-owned car park on the remainder of the site. This proposed model would ensure that the car park is redeveloped at no cost to ratepayers. The built form modelling for this option is shown below:

The demolition of the existing car park and construction of the new car park is expected to take approximately two years. It is anticipated that these works would commence in 2028.

In selling the southern parcel, Council would seek tenders that include the provision of affordable housing and community space as well as tenders that do not include any conditions as part of the sale. The outcome of any tender process will be reported to a future meeting of Council.

Both the new car park and future development on the southern parcel would require development applications in the future. The community would have the opportunity to make submissions on these plans when they are publicly exhibited as part of the development application process.

The construction of a new car park, including demolition of the existing car park, is estimated to cost approximately $53.5 million.

Remediation/repairs to the existing car park would cost a minimum of $26 million to extend the life of the car park by 10 years. It would cost over $38 million to extend the life of the car park for another 25 years.

This is not considered a prudent use of ratepayers’ money, and Council does not have the funds to undertake these repairs without taking out a loan (which may affect the future financial stability of Council) or increasing rates through a Special Rate Variation (SRV).

Advantages of our proposal to redevelop the car park:

• It will deliver a minimum of 412 car spaces (the existing car park has 396 car spaces).

• It will create a new car park that will last much longer than the existing car park, even if Council undertook expensive repairs.

• It will not require a special rate variation i.e. an increase in rates or a loan to be taken out and will maintain the financial stability of the Council.

• Any surplus funds from the sale of land will be reinvested into the community.

• It is a simpler development that does not require extensive excavation.

On 26 November 2025, Council resolved to consult with the community on the proposal to redevelop the car park and sell a portion of the site to fund this redevelopment.

We will be accepting feedback via a feedback form on this page from 27 January - 25 February 2026.

A community information session will be held on Tuesday 3 February, 6pm-7:30pm at Woollahra Library, Double Bay. No RSVP required. All welcome.

Following the community consultation, the findings will be reported to a meeting of Council in early 2026. If the proposal proceeds, it is expected that the demolition of the existing car park and construction of the new car park will commence in 2028, with expected completion in 2030.