The $620m makeover for Manly, Howard Smith wharves
A $620 million revamp is on the cards for Sydney’s Manly Wharf and Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves, as their owner pursues grand plans to transform the jaded attractions into bustling tourist destinations.
Behind that ambition is Artemus Group – founded by Adam Flaskas and Paul Henry and with Luke Fraser as its chief executive – which submitted redevelopment plans for each site to the respective authorities last week.
On the drawing board for Howard Smith Wharves is a 77-room boutique hotel, a riverside pool, retail space and a theatre hall. That comes with a $500 million price tag for Artemus, which took control of the infrastructure a decade ago.
Most of that cash will be spent on the boutique hotel and riverside pool. The company has big ideas in store at Manly as well, with a plan to replace its abandoned supermarket with a microbrewery and a pub as part of a longer-term $120 million redevelopment.
Mr Flaskas acknowledges the schemes for the two waterside sites in the two cities is at a grand scale but, he said, they will deliver a “legacy kind of masterplan” where good food and well-run outlets create long-term value for the community, tenants and investors.
“We’re only just getting started with Manly, but if you look at that location, it is just one of the most glorious pieces of property and Brisbane has got its own version with the Howard Smith Wharves,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
“We see opportunities to make all the spaces better and really understand what the community is looking for so it all complements each other, they don’t cannibalise each other.”
The plans for the Sydney and Brisbane redevelopments were a long time coming, Mr Flaskas said.
His group, previously called the HSW consortium, acquired the leasehold for the Howard Smith Wharves in 2014, but the first stage of its revitalisation as a major dining hub did not come to fruition until 2019. The project was held up by a stoush between the state government and Brisbane City Council over the potential for flooding.
Getting residents on board
Mr Flaskas believes Howard Smith Wharves has provided Artemus with a successful model for what can be done at the historic Manly Wharf after the company acquired the site’s leasehold and hotel for $110 million in May last year.
The initial schemes to overhaul Manly Wharf follow a survey of the local community and include turning the old supermarket into a microbrewery while introducing 24/7 security, new public toilets, and weekend daytime markets.
In their responses to Artemus survey, Manly residents put better toilets and more casual dining options at the top of their wish list.
“It’s been really good to see the excitement of the community to our investment into the wharf. There are certain things, such as the toilets to the precinct, which has been something that’s been mostly talked about,” Mr Flaskas said.
“You think it’s a simple thing, but it’s these small things that they want when we first reached out to the community for feedback.”
