Blues Point Towers

Matthew Williams Director, MWA 19 Dumbarton Street McMahons Point, NSW 2060 M 0410232939 E info@mw-arch.com.au W www.mw-arch.com.au John Azar Director and Owner Good Beer Company & The Commodore Hotel

By Email: james@thegoodbeerco.com.au Saturday, 15 May 2021 Dear John, Nice to bump into you earlier in the Commodore Car Park a few months ago, and thank you very much for letting me use a car space at the Commodore momentarily! Thank you for letting me make an introduction. I have done a little reading on the internet since our meeting and I was fascinated to read about the Good Beer Company, what an excellent business model, meeting social and commercial objectives at the same time. Congratulations on your purchase of The Commodore, a very auspicious site.

A little about myself, I am a local architect living in McMahon’s Point (just behind Noakes Boatyard in fact). I have over 25 years experience working for some of Australia’s leading architectural companies including Bligh Voller Nield, Woods Bagot and DesignInc, during which time I have designed, managed and led some very large and notable projects. My work is viewable at website http://mw-arch.com.au. I pride myself on crafted, considered designs, that meet not only meet the functional and performance objectives for the Project, but also greatly enhance value through good design and strategic thinking. Brand and customer experience are key to value maximisation.

The Commodore is in a lovely position, and congratulations for such an auspicious purpose. The site itself has significant development potential. I believe a tower of 6 to 8 storeys could be constructed on this site. This would realise significant saleable or leasable area, depending on the final use characterisation. McMahons Point is a sought after location for boutique businesses, and North Sydney Council are agreeable to projects that enhance the urban experience for residents.

I recall you did mention that you are interested in the development potential for the site, as such I wonder if you might be interested in our taking forward a scoping study for you, that assesses the benefits, opportunities and risks for such a project. Whilst my experience in retail and hospitality projects is somewhat limited, I am certainly able to provide good advice regarding a multi-use project such as this site might entail.

We are a low-cost operation, and as such I can offer very reasonable fees for this assessment. Such an assessment can become a brief for other architects later appointed to do the work, or allow you to consider the potential scope of the project, how it may integrate with the ongoing operations of the Commodore Hotel, what sort of timelines might apply for realising such a project, likely project and construction costs, and other such matters as might relate to your business strategey moving forward. Doing such work in isolation of any distinct timeline requirement, allows us to take our time and complete the detail together, such that we end up with a robust and bullet proof plan for the site. This greatly reduces risk at such time in the future as you decide you might like to appoint a consultant team and mobilise on the project.

I am also in conversation with Shore School regarding the site including the corner shop on the other side of Union Street.

If the two sites were considered together, a strong argument to Council for increased density could be put.

Property Definition Property Address, The Commodore Hotel 206 Blues Point Road, McMahons Point Property Address, Shore School: 208 Blues Point Road 2a William Street

RP

Lot 1, DP 565890, 1148sqm

Lot 4, DP570827, 970sqm SP10913, 369sqm

Aerial Photo:

Shore School Corner Site

The Commodore Site

Property Zoning: Blue: B3 Neighbourhood Centre Green: B1 Neighbourhood Centre Yellow: R4 High Density Residential Heritage: General (Corner Site)

Key strategy elements could be summarised thus: – – – –

The corner lots can adopt the R4 Zoning for both lots, or, a commercial use can be proposed for The Commodore Site, and residential for the Shore School site The existing Building is replaced and bar function integrated to the new building Car Parking and Service Vehicle Loading is provided underground (sites can be linked under the roadway) Building Height is determined relative to the nearby Office Tower at 182 – 186 Blues Point Road.

I provide indicative site massing for the two sites. This demonstrates the unique potential spatial characteristics of the development and the ease of use in terms of resident and vehicular access, site loading and security, view aspect from apartments and integration of a quality ground floor environment. Particularly the adjacent office tower, and apparently limited impact to vies for residences beyond, creates a very unique opportunity for height on these two sites.

Working with the two sites together, from an urban design point of view, may allow for favourable preliminary consultations with North Sydney Council. A Site Strategy Document could be created, that investigates the urban design and urban impacts of such a proposal, and is set up to allow for positive engagement with the Local Authority (North Sydney Council) regarding the project idea.

This Massing indicates we can achieve as follows: Tower One (South – Commodore Site): 3 – 4 Basement Storeys, Car Park Entry Ramp from Union Street Ground Floor Retail, Activated Streetfrontage along Blues Point Road Level 1 Bar Facility – Similar size and proportion to existing Commodore Facility Level 2 – 4x 1 Bed Units, Podium Roof Pool, Garden and Gym for Residents Levels 3 to 7 – 3x Large 2+ or 3 Bed Apartments with premium Lavender Bay, Harbour Bridge and City Facing Views Level 8 – 2x 4 Bed Penthouse Apartments, or 1x Very Large Penthouse Apartment with 360 deg. Views.

Providing overall a Total of 24 Premium Apartments.

Tower Two (North – Shore School Site) 3 – 4 Basement Levels, car parking entry from Union Street Open Ground Floor Courtyard, utilising and repurposing upper level of heritage building on corner, and providing limited F&B retail along norther edge of site Level 1 to 7 – 2x Large 2+ or 3 Bed Apartments with premium Lavender Bay, Harbour Bridge and City Facing Views Level 8 – 1x Premium Penthouse Apartment with 360 deg. Views Providing a total of 13 Premium Apartments.

I attach also for your information a survey of recent sales values for apartments int eh area. Quality, sizeable and well positioned apartments are very scarce in the North Shore area and there is a strong uptake of international buyers driving up prices, due to COVID issues ongoing overseas.

I believe such a project will also enhance the utility, street presence and identity of the local area. I believe Council will support the Project as it aspires to create a wider range of building use options for the locality, and enhances the urban

frame and built quality of the area. The current land area is quite underutilised and represents the opportunity for substantial additional value.

Additionally, it may be of interest to consider a Hotel function at the site of The Commodore Hotel. I have a friend, Mr Paul Chong, owner of the Four Points hotel brand, who is interested to extend his Brand to the Sydney market. Please refer: https://www.traveller.com.au/four-points-by-sheraton-hotel-opens-in-brisbane-341x3. As well, I am connected with Investors who can provide equity support to assist to realise such projects.

A next step might be a further refinement of this initial project feasibility and the creation of basic concept drawings each level that allows us to appraise the development yield (apartments, retail areas, and car parking), in a more realistic and site-attuned way. These drawings can also be used to build up a better understanding of the likely approval pathway, rental and sales rates, and construction costs. We can also use these drawings to discuss with possible investors. If things are looking favourable, we might like to embark on a public campaign in consulting with neighbours, Shore School and the local authority, which might include more advanced architectural drawings, renderings and visualisations.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this development concept idea further with you in person. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you might like to set up a time for meeting and discussion.

Kind regards

Mathew Williams Architect NSW Reg. 8645