Major Revamp Planned For Moore Park’s Entertainment Quarter

A 20,000-seat concert venue is planned to be the ‘cherry on top’ of Moore Park’s major Entertainment Quarter revamp plans.

After last month’s interest from the Minns government in saving the squandered Entertainment Quarter, the state government now continues to search for a promising development partner in hopes of acquiring the moneymaking long-term lease for the precinct.

 The Minns government hopes to push the venue’s full potential by rebuilding it as the new hot-spot for entertainment, sport and the creative industry to bring more people at nighttime. 

“The NSW Government wants to see the EQ at Moore Park reach its full potential,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns.

“We want to transform the EQ into a world-class precinct that Sydney can truly be proud of.”

The government gave the go-ahead on long-flaunted plans to revitalise the Moore Park precinct to promote its policies aimed at Sydney’s entertainment and hospitality industries’ new beginnings.

“The Minns Labor Government wants NSW to be the place where young people choose to live and work,” said Music and Night-time Economy Minister John Graham.

“We must also support lively communities and culture.”

 He says Sydney has been in a state of scarcity for live music and entertainment venues since the 2016 closure of the Sydney Entertainment Centre at Haymarket. 

“Sydney is crying out for a new large live music and performance space. Complementing the lifting of the concert cap at Centennial Park, a revitalised and vibrant Entertainment Quarter will help us continue to unshackle our entertainment culture from the dark days of the lock-out era,” he said.

He added how the plan will fill the gap between the ICC Sydney and the 21,000-seat Qudos Bank Arena at Homebush—making it clear that the 15,000 to 20,000-seat indoor arena was the perfect solution and “a preferred outcome” of the revamp.

NSW “crying out” for more entertainment facilities 

Two weeks ago, the Minns Labor government revealed a $50 million plan for South Moore Park, which includes a new 20-hectare park featuring a nine-hole public golf course, an expanded 90-bay driving range, and a mini putt-putt golf course.

 The park will also include renewed features such as a community sporting field, walking, running, and cycling paths and trails, lighting along main paths, amenities, picnic areas and park furniture, tree planting, and landscaping. 

Minns also said that a long-term lease is in the works to give the winning proponent confidence to invest.

Meanwhile, Carsingha Investments has a lease at the Entertainment Quarter with a conditional break clause whose operation remains uncertain. The lease expires in 2036 and includes a 20-year option.

Gerry Harvey, Mark Carnegie, and John Singleton are all listed as the consortium’s high-profile investors. In 2014, they secured the site’s lease, praising how much of a golden opportunity it is to develop on land in inner Sydney bought at $80 million.

Yet plans to overhaul the 11-hectare site are stalled, after Carsingha submitted an unsolicited bid in 2019, a divisive redevelopment including a 20-storey office block, hotel and sports precinct.

A place-making framework is expected to oversee the revamp process, making sure its commercially viable, lifts visitation, delivers new venues, honours heritage, links the precinct with surrounding parklands and sport/entertainment facilities, and keeps the site largely as public open space.

“The expressions of interest and assessment process will make sure we are getting the best outcome possible for the people of NSW,” said Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully.

“Sydney is a world-class city that deserves the facilities in the Entertainment Quarter to match, so we can attract events and performances NSW has been crying out for.”