It’s no secret that the reality of finding affordable artist space in inner Sydney is more and more an Odyssean task. We’re not divorced from the reality this represents for artists in Sydney, so in addition to our existing creative spaces programs, our cultural policy commits to developing creative work spaces or advocating for this as a priority to other tiers of government. Private property developers play a vital role in this process.

We’re thrilled to announce a $25 million creative hub to be part of a new residential development by Greenland Australia. The architect-designed facilities, spanning 2,000 square metres and five storeys, will include soundproofed rooms for music rehearsals, studios with sprung timber floors for dancers and actors, media and editing suites for filmmakers and new media artists, and wet/dry studios for visual artists. There’ll also be room for a live/work apartment to be made available for a creative fellowship program. At this stage, we expect some spaces will be available by the hour and on daily, weekly and monthly hires – but further detail will be confirmed in 2016.

Each floor will be customised to meet the needs of various artforms including dance, theatre, music, film and the visual arts. It will be designed specifically as work spaces for artists and creative teams, rather than as performance or exhibition spaces. It is likely that a cultural organisation will have an office space on each floor to help manage and rent the facilities on their floor.

The $440 million, 490 apartment residential tower will sit at the former Sydney Water site on Bathurst Street and is set to be Sydney’s tallest. And the creative space is here to stay, as the City has signed a 99-year lease with Greenland Australia.

The development came about as a result of a voluntary planning agreement that granted Greenland floorspace concessions in exchange for public benefit, in line with our new cultural policy. We strongly encourage initiatives like this, where we can work with major developers to allocate a portion of space for creative use.

We’re looking to see the building tower over the city in 2017, but for now, keep an eye on our creative spaces programs if you’re looking for work spaces.