Office building proposed for Labor Club, Savings House sites at Petrie Plaza

NDH Property, a joint venture partnership between Evri Group and KDN Group, has detailed the proposal for 8-32 Petrie Plaza, City in a development application this week.

The site covers blocks two to five, section 14 City, spanning a total site area of 992 square metres.

The City Labor Club currently occupies blocks two and three but is in the process of relocating to a new premises next door. Savings House is located at blocks four and five.

The development application proposes the construction of a single, commercial office building with a gross floor area of more than 10,000 square metes.

The proposal also seeks to vary the Territory Plan to remove building setback and envelope provisions.

The office block will have flexibility to cater for whole-floor tenants or multiple, smaller tenancies on the same floor.

Access would be via a main lobby on Petrie Plaza plus another entry from Riverside Lane at the rear.

NDH Property senior development manager Rob Speight said the group made a conscious decision to repurpose the laneway.

"We're looking at small hole-in-the-wall cafes and we're trying to create an opportunity for us and other building owners in the court to consider how we can re-characterize that courtyard at the rear," he said.

A separate early works application has also been submitted for four basement levels that would provide 80 car spaces.

The proposal has been in the works since about 2019, Mr Speight said.

He said there had been several iterations of the design, particularly regarding the courtyard at Riverside Lane.

"In the end, we've had to peel back from that design and we've had to look at the courtyard. It has to be redesigned because at the end of the day, to create a building there we need to create all the necessary utility and access requirements that a contemporary building needs," he said.

The group received approval for demolition of the existing two-storey buildings on the site in July 2022. Demolition is expected to begin once the Labor Club move is complete.

While a government client would be the ideal occupant, the group has proposed a flexible design that would appeal to private tenants too.

"I think any private building owner and developer would ultimately say that a government tenant is priority one," Mr Speight said.

"But how many government tenants are out there wanting to come and fill a building up - they just aren't there.

"We see a place in the market for A-grade private tenants. We've designed the building to be eminently flexible. Services and lift cores are located so floor plates can be cut up into sub-tenancies."

The period for representation on the development application closes March 30, 2023.

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