Shortly after finalizing the development agreements with Crown and Lendlease, the state government announced the planned construction of a metro station in Barangaroo, which meant that the density of offices or commercial development in the adjacent center of Barangaroo could be much greater. This announcement was closely followed by the Authority`s call for further expressions of interest in the development of Barangaroo Central. Both the Crown and Lendlease development agreements contained a “visibility clause” which provided that the Court had concluded that the Barangaroo Delivery Authority (or its predecessor[2]) had failed to comply with its obligation to negotiate in good faith with two Barangaroo South developers in a timely manner, which prevented the Authority from: make what would otherwise be an extensive and likely lucrative development of an adjacent site to the extent desired and a cost order against the authority. This is a 7.7-acre site in Millers Point, Sydney. The development will transform the former container dock into a new waterfront financial district with commercial and residential buildings, as well as shops, restaurants, hotels and public squares. The agency met with Crown and Lendlease in April 2016 and presented various designs of Barangaroo`s central development. However, each of them had an impact on the lines of sight and was rejected by Crown and Lendlease. In the ensuing talks between the parties, the issue was not resolved. In May 2015,[3] the Authority entered into development agreements with Crown Sydney Property (Crown) and two lend-lease companies (Millers Point) to enable Crown to develop an integrated casino and condominium and the development of luxury residential apartments in Barangaroo South.
At the time of the agreements: The Barangaroo South development site is Sydney`s largest development project since the 2000 Olympic Games and one of the largest water regenerations currently underway in the world. Crown and Lendlease acknowledged that Sight Lines` clauses did not “guarantee” that the views of Sydney Harbour would be preserved. However, the judge[4] described that the Sight Lines clauses gave Crown and Lendlease “a seat at the table” to “negotiate with the authority on the form of Central Barangaroo`s development” when there was potential for change in the conceptual plan. In February 2016, a consortium led by a Grocon company (Grocon) submitted two proposals for the development of Central Barangaroo, both of which included building designs that went far beyond the approved conceptual plans for Central Barangaroo and, most importantly, would severely affect Lendlease`s sight lines and, to a lesser extent, Crown`s sight lines to the port. Before submitting the bid, Grocon had the impression that there were no height limits. Grocon was selected as the preferred bidder in mid-2016 and the authority subsequently entered into a development agreement with Grocon in November 2017. The decision of the Supreme Crown Court of New South Wales Sydney Property v. Barangaroo Delivery Authority; Lendlease (Millers Point) v Barangaroo Delivery Authority[1] highlights the need for government agencies to enter into trade agreements such as development agreements, choose the language used carefully, and carefully comply with conditions or face potentially costly consequences if they do not. The project is worth about $6 billion. Its completion is expected between 2020 and 2025. The court also had to determine whether maintaining the lines of sight was of paramount importance or whether optimizing the development of Central Barangaroo was of equal importance. Currently, about 650 workers work in Barangaroo South.
Over its lifetime, the project will involve thousands of workers. The judge carefully reviewed the language used in the development agreements and the order in which the organization conducted its relationship with Crown, Lendlease and Grocon. The members assigned to this project are Justice Boulton and Vice-President Sams. [1] [2018] NSWSC 1931 [2] Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. On 1 July 2019, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority was abolished and its functions transferred to Infrastructure NSW [3] The development agreement with Lendlease had been technically concluded about 5 years earlier, and the reference to May 2015 refers to an amendment to this agreement. [4] The Honourable McDougall J Crown announced in August 2019 that he had entered into a confidential agreement with the authority in which the authority had agreed not to pursue its appeal against the decision. It was also reported in the press at the time that Lendlease also had. The authority was not barangaroo`s planning authority, but the owner (or was essentially) the owner of the site.
Changes to the conceptual plan had to be approved by the Minister or his/her deputy upon request to the relevant department (a “SEARS application”). A draft SEARS application has been submitted to the authority and after “prolonged consultations and negotiations”, the authority and Grocon appear to have reached an agreement around September 2018. The stupid SEARS application was submitted to Crown and Lendlease for review on September 13, 2018. The unions involved include CFMEU, CEPU and AMWU. Although raised as an issue by Crown and Lendlease, in light of the judge`s statements above, he felt that it was not necessary for him to determine whether there was also an implied condition for the authority to act in good faith (and, if so, the scope of those implied terms). Determining when the line of sight clauses were triggered was critical to the outcome. The agency argued that it did not violate the Slight Lines clauses by filing the SEARS application with Lendlease and Crown in September 2018. However, the court said the Sight Lines clauses had been triggered and that the authority should have entered into good-faith talks with Lendlease and Crown, at least by the time Grocon became the preferred bidder. The Barangaroo South site is developed by Lend Lease. The company was hired in December 2009 by the Barangaroo Delivery Authority on behalf of the New South Wales Government. .