Traders in Purple to lead St Albans Church urban renewal project in Five Dock
National property group Traders In Purple has been appointed by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney to lead the urban renewal of St Albans Church at Five Dock.
The future vision for the church site will include a mix of new housing and ground floor amenity to enhance public space and seamless interaction with the adjacent Five Dock Metro Station, currently under construction.
The Sydney Anglican engagement adds to Traders In Purple’s extensive portfolio of partnerships where it has established itself as a trusted partner to Government. It has a significant pipeline of mixed tenure projects with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation valued at over $590 million, and a $300 million mixed use masterplanned community 15 minutes from Hobart, in partnership with Kingborough Council.
Renewal of the Five Dock site will result in a considered mixed-use precinct to include housing, new indoor and outdoor public spaces as well as office and retail uses that will deliver recurrent income to the Diocese.
As part of the site renewal, careful restoration of the heritage listed St Albans Church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1858, will be undertaken as well as adaptive reuse of Ridley Hall for a restaurant, community and commercial uses.
Traders In Purple will now begin church restoration works and commence discussions with Canada Bay Council and the NSW Government on planning approvals for the 4,014 sqm site. It is anticipated the planning proposal will be lodged mid-year.
Traders In Purple Director George Geagea said the company was looking forward to partnering with the Anglican Diocese to realise a number of benefits for its church community and the broader public.
“We look forward to enhancing St Albans Church and Ridley Hall so that the Five Dock community can continue to enjoy these much-loved local landmarks,” said Geagea.
“Our approach to heritage and expertise in the delivery of mixed tenure housing was an important factor in the Diocesan decision to engage Traders In Purple. We respect and enjoy working with the complexities of heritage properties and have demonstrated our capability in adaptive reuse of many local treasures.
"Together we are seeking to revitalise the heritage buildings to ensure that they continue to play the vital roles in the community’s life that they have for so many decades.”
Traders In Purple was recognised with a 2021 UDIA National Award for Excellence for “The Abbey” in Cronulla, an adaptive reuse of a Uniting Church and Sunday School Hall into luxury residences. Its restoration of the Sisters of Mercy Chapel in Goulburn and the historic Greyleigh homestead in the Kiama hinterland as a luxury boutique accommodation and wedding venue are among the group’s portfolio of heritage passion projects. Its Correa Gardens community housing development won the Urban Taskforce Award for Affordable Residential Development last year.
The Five Dock project is part of the Sydney Anglican Urban Renewal Pilot Program (URPP), the aim of which is to activate church properties across the Sydney Diocese to become vital community hubs.
Geagea said the Five Dock Metro Station adjacent to St Albans presented the ideal opportunity to deliver urgently needed new housing in a well-established inner-west suburb.
“Transport infrastructure is the key to sustainable housing growth,” said Geagea.
“It enables a walkable lifestyle where people are not car dependent and have easy access to shops, schools, restaurants, cafes and open space.
“Sydney’s housing affordability and rental crisis cannot be solved without building more homes to meet the increase in population. Rather than pushing people out to the city fringe, suburbs such as Five Dock are ideally placed to absorb some of this growth, giving young people and families a chance for a home and a fulfilling lifestyle, close to where they work.”
