After decades of debate, the future of the Kirrawee brick pit is here.
The South Village shopping centre opens tomorrow (Wednesday) and, early next month, the first residents will move into the towering apartment blocks.
Doors to the shopping centre will open at 7am, with shops and eateries to open at varying times soon after.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Coles store will take place at 7.30am, with the centre to be officially opened at 11am.
First day attractions for children include PJ Masks between 9.30am and 12.30pm, face painting, live music, a caricaturist, workshops, and “kids play”.
It’s a huge transformation for the site, which was given the name Jurassic Park by some locals when it abounded with foxes, rabbits, snakes, spiders and other wildlife.
Proposals for the site over more than 20 years included a cultural centre, school or university campus, light industry and more modest housing developments with a large public park.
But, after Sydney Water sold the site, the state government approved developments that grew from 432 to 749 apartments, and to a final figure of 779.
Mirvac Retail is managing the shopping centre, which is anchored by a huge, “new generation” Coles supermarket, plus a Coles Online distribution centre in a cavernous basement, which has room for semi-trailers to turn around.
An Aldi supermarket and 27 specialty shops, including a range of eateries, complete the centre.
Sutherland Shire Council still has to decide whether to proceed with its original plan to convert allocated community space into more shops.
Mirvac’s head of retail, Susan MacDonald said their team was “looking forward to working with council and the community to create a place for meeting friends and family, holding community events and enjoying the broader amenity as the development is completed over the coming months”.
Everything at South Village has been carefully curated to create an engaging environment offering new and modern choices in food and services, dining and well-being lifestyle pursuits, including the creation of a new community park that will be completed by mid-next year,” she said.
Developers Payce and DeiCorp are confident the public will be impressed with the result despite many negative comments during the building process.
Payce director Dominic Sullivan said South Village “provided a rare opportunity for apartment buyers to invest in an urban renewal project”.
“Our focus is to not just build quality developments, but to create new communities from the ground up like we did successfully at East Village in Zetland,” he said.
DeiCorp sales and marketing manager Peter Neale said 70 per cent of the 779 apartments had been sold, with one building still to be released.
Mr Neale said the prices of remaining units ranged from $565,000 for one-bedroom to $1.3 million for “large, top level three bedrooms”.
“We have seen an increase in inquiries over the last few weeks as the opening approached, and that will continue as people enjoy the new retail facilities and spaces,” he said.
“The shopping centre is very impressive and Mirvac have done a fantastic job in terms of their retail partnerships.”
The site has a long and history that is intertwined with the development of the shire.
Between 1912 and 1961, the brick works produced millions of bricks and clay pipes a year for rapidly developing areas of Sydney.
Soon after production started in 1912, the works were turning out up to two million bricks a year and, by 1939, annual output had reached seven million.
Clay and shale quarried from the southern portion of the Kirrawee site significantly reduced the cost of transporting materials from other areas and kept the factory competitive with other suppliers, particularly through the war years and Great Depression era.
Records show that the brick works had several owners over time, starting with the Sutherland Brick Company (1912-1917), Refractory Bricks Limited (1917-1926) and finally the Punchbowl Brick and Tile Company Limited (1927-1961).
Following its decommissioning in 1968, the site was cleared of all buildings and the landmark brick chimney was demolished.
In 2001, state government planners were called in to shape the future of Kirrawee, including the brick pit.
A masterplan for the shopping precinct and surrounding area was drawn up after consultation with the community and council.
The planners considered a council working party’s call for the site to be developed for aged care, community facilities and open space.
Kirrawee Chamber of Commerce and a residents group pushed for a performing arts centre and a large park, while others saw the future as a school, or university campus.
After 20 months of community consultation, at a cost of $500,000, the council and state government agreed to develop the site for residential and employment uses, with 20 per cent becoming a park.
The masterplan provided for 280 apartments, business units and a park covering about 10 per cent of the property.
In 2007, Sydney Water called tenders for the sale of the site, to be developed in accordance with the 2003 master plan.
However, the new owners began making overtures to the council about developing a regional shopping centre.
The council lost planning power over the site when the state Labor government called it in under part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
In 2011, the incoming Coalition government scrapped part 3A following community anger.
The new government-appointed body, the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC), approved a development containing 432 apartments.
In 2013, the site was sold to Payce, who gained approval from the PAC to increase the number of apartments to 749.
Payce subsequently had a modification approved to increase the number of units to 808 by splitting a number of three-bedroom into one-bedroom.
However, because the decision was delayed and construction was under way, the developer settled for 779 apartments.
The first task in developing the site involved pumping 2.5 million litres of water out of the pit.
Construction started in August, 2016.
Stage one, comprising the retail centre and 250 apartments in three buildings on the edge of Princes Highway, will be completed this year.
The remaining apartments in four blocks are due to be opened by the end of 2019.
A public park, to be named Kiln Park and contain a heritage display, is included in stage two.
The display will include the remains of the bee-hive shaped Pipe Kiln 1, salvaged bricks and pipes and remain of the kiln floor and footings of external walls.