NSW said to reject Redfern tech hub plan

The New South Wales Government has reportedly rejected a plan to transform a Redfern site into a Silicon Valley-style technology hub that would have served as Google’s new Australian headquarters.

The proposal from developer Mirvac would involve redeveloping the old rail yards in Redfern into a multiuse precinct with commercial, retail and residential areas.

It was privately submitted to the government through its unsolicited tender process, but detailed by Fairfax Media last month in a report citing unnamed sources.

But Fairfax has reported that the government has indicated that it would prefer the land to be developed through a competitive open process.

The proposal is said to have failed a test to determine whether unsolicited proposals are unique enough that they cannot be readily delivered by competitors.

But a senior government source told the publication that some ministers are seeking to salvage the deal due to concerns that Google may abandon Sydney as the site of its Australian headquarters. Mirvac could also still submit a proposal through the open tender process.

Google has been searching for a location for its Australian headquarters for some time. The company abandoned plans to establish the headquarters at a repurposed power station in Rozelle last year, citing a lack of public transport updates in the Bays Precinct plan to transform the area into a technology hub. But Google’s withdrawal struck a blow to that ambition.

The recently published Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2018 from Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network found that Sydney was the top location in Asia–Pacific in terms of local connectedness — the ability of the city’s start-ups to connect and build strong relationships.

The report found that Sydney hosts the nation’s largest collection of tech start-ups and that both the city and regional governments are active in supporting the local start-up ecosystem. The state government recently invested $35 million to create the Sydney Startup Hub.

“With the Sydney Startup Hub we now have a world-leading start-up and innovation centre set to create thousands of jobs across metro and regional NSW which rivals international facilities like Kendall Square in Boston and Station F in Paris,” Jobs for NSW Chair David Thodey said.

“Microsoft recently brought its world-renowned intensive program for start-ups to the Sydney Startup Hub, making it one of only eight global host locations — a huge vote of confidence in Sydney’s status as a global start-up leader. The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2018 also shows that ‘Local Connectedness’ is strongly associated with higher start-up performance — this is great news for Sydney and NSW and we’ll continue to create the right environment to back successful start-ups to create jobs.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/peshkova

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