Milestone for former hospital site
Orange City Council's purchase of the old Orange Base Hospital site has been finalised, with the contract now signed and settled.
Health Infrastructure (HI) and Orange City Council have been working on a contract that will deliver a positive community legacy and provide new development and employment opportunities for the city.
Orange Mayor John Davis said the finalisation of the contract was an important milestone for the project.
“Projects like these are rare in regional cities and HI and Council have been working together to get it right,” Cr Davis said
“There is a lot of work to do but once complete this will set Orange apart from other regional cities across Australia. It is an entire city block close to the CBD with great opportunities to create new types of residential living and commercial offerings. In the coming years this will be a significant driver of economic growth in the city creating up to 40 construction jobs a year across five years.”
Member for Orange Andrew Gee said there had been a great deal of community interest in what is to become of the old hospital site.
“People are very keen to see some action on the site and to get this important part of Orange rejuvenated,” Mr Gee said.
“The community has also been unanimous in its desire to see the site put to an appropriate use that is in keeping with the surrounding streetscape.”
“There is obviously going to be significant demolition costs and I’m very pleased that the NSW Government has adopted a practical approach in agreeing to place $2.3 million of the purchase price in trust to fund the demolition.”
Chief Executive of HI, Mr Sam Sangster, said Health Infrastructure had worked collaboratively in its negotiations with Orange City Council to ensure optimal community benefit from the sale.
“In addition to the benefits from the development of the new Orange Hospital, the community will now benefit from an urban renewal project designed to deliver a community legacy rich in development and employment opportunities", Mr Sangster said.
“The long-term future of this site has been very carefully negotiated and we are delighted that Orange City Council persisted in its vision for its future use.”
A Heads of Agreement was entered in April 2015. The Heads of Agreement established the terms of the sale for the site. The contract for the sale of the site consolidates the responsibilities of both parties.
While the contract was being finalised Council staff, in consultation with HI, have continued to undertake preliminary planning work to prepare for the next steps.
These steps include :
- a development application (DA) for demolition,
- demolition contractor engagement and
- seeking expressions of Interest for development options for the site.
The DA is scheduled to be lodged in June, demolition tender/negotiations completed in December and work anticipated to commence in January 2017.
The land sale price of the hospital site is $3.3 million (GST exclusive). Council paid Health $1million and Health has commissioned Council to carry out demolition works and remediation of the site which is expected to cost around $2.3 million.
The preferred masterplan development option for the project includes:
- 2000 m2 of park area and 700 m2 of verge widening
- 68 dwellings made up of 28 apartments in the redeveloped Ward block and 40 houses in a mix of terrace housing / townhouses and detached / duplex housing
- 10 mixed use properties (retail / commercial / residential)
- the refurbished Ambulance building forming a commercial development
There may be some community expectation of a quick turnaround for this project however given the size and complexity of the works it will run across a number of years.
A consultant's report has examined a number of possible re-development options for the site. The report, which can be downloaded here, (or viewed in a convenient browsing format below) will be part of the information pack put out to the market when expressions of interest are sought from the market.
Concept designs for the site(see below) include a range of architectural styles which make use of the former hospital's existing multi-level building with adaptions for high-ceiling apartments.
Consultation has concluded
