Square Deal

Business owners facing relocation due to the construction of the Town Hall Metro station are feeling shortchanged by proposed compensation payouts.

Six buildings bounded by Pitt, Park and George streets will be compulsorily acquired and earmarked for demolition. Tenants have begun receiving letters from Sydney Metro, offering compensation to clear the way for the NSW Government’s $5 billion CBD Metro plans.

Business and property valuation consultant Peter Phippen, who is advising business owners affected by the Metro project, said the offers made were inadequate.

“The offers are way short of the mark and out of touch with reality…they are missing a lot of zeros,” Mr Phippen said.

“The first offer would not even cover my client’s time in looking for a replacement property.”

Retail giant Woolworths is among those being asked to pack up shop, with its prominent building on the corner of Park and George Streets also set for demolition.

Woolworths spokesperson Luke Schepen said: “We do have an existing lease on our Town Hall store. Subsequent to the government announcement, we are currently in discussions with the council.”

A Sydney Metro spokesperson said that of the 30 properties being acquired citywide for the project, six properties – including 41 tenancies – are needed for the Town Hall station to go ahead.

“The majority of property owners and tenants have received an offer from Sydney
Metro and negotiations are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

“Offers are based on valuations carried out by independent valuers.”

A factsheet issued by Sydney Metro also said that offers were determined by taking into account factors including loss of profit, relocation costs, legal fees and higher rental for alternative premises.

It said Sydney Metro would “make every effort to negotiate a mutually acceptable and equitable price”.

Hotel Coronation, on Park Street, currently employs approximately 35 staff and a further 20 contractors. General manager Bob Stuart said that the owners were hesitant to lay off their good staff.

“It could take us up to twelve months to build [a new pub],” he said.

Mr Stuart said the cost of fitting out a new pub would be, “between five to six million dollars, easily.”

Sutatip Numkeatsakul, proprietor of food stall Malacca Straits Thai on Pitt Street, said she was angered by perceived misrepresentations made by Council.

“In the last three to four years before I [bought] this business, I went ahead and checked with the government [and] Council,” she said.

“I said: ‘In this area, is anything happening?’

“They don’t give me any information, they said: ‘No, it’s not going to happen until the year 2030’.”

Another proprietor, who declined to be named, said he would lose substantial goodwill in the business he had established over time.

“I’ve built this business here for 15 years,” he said. “You basically lose all your location, your clientele, the lot. The financial stress is a lot to deal with. I don’t know how to fight this.”

Construction for the Sydney Metro is scheduled for mid-2010.

by Philip Wen, Gareth Narunsky, Michael Kermode and Adrian Raftery