ATC charts new course on an old idea with Randwick housing proposal

Using racing lingo, if the Australian Turf Club’s board obtains a clear run at shaping its future beyond the next couple of months, its directors will have plenty to think about.

With the $5 billion sale of Rosehill dispatched to the wastebin, how Sydney’s race club manages its assets, principally its land, will be pivotal to shoring up its finances and investing in much-needed infrastructure.

The latest property carveout proposal aimed at boosting the ATC’s coffers has been slated for Randwick, with details of the proposal to build at least 3000 apartments leaking to the media this week.

Along with smaller development options at Rosehill and Canterbury, the latest option was first proposed around 2010-2011 and is now being reconsidered by the current ATC board, led by chair Tim Hale.

The option has re-emerged after a consortium of developers and investors with racing connections put the plan to the ATC board and executive, The Straight has been told.

The idea of redeveloping a portion of Randwick for housing was first floated about 15 years ago when construction identity John Cornish, who is also a prominent breeder, was chair of the ATC.

But the initial proposal was dismissed when Labor was in government, with then Premier Kristina Keneally and her colleagues seemingly having little appetite to pursue a Sydney housing policy, particularly so on Crown land.

That sentiment has changed under current Premier Chris Minns, with plans being considered to build apartment towers to the southern end of Randwick racecourse, which sits on Crown land, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The ATC has a 99-year peppercorn lease to conduct thoroughbred racing at Randwick in Sydney’s east and no proposal has been put forward to the state government about redeveloping a parcel of that.

The ATC board, which goes head-to-head with the state’s racing regulator Racing NSW in a bitter court battle later this month in an attempt to stave off administration, has vowed to put any proposal to redevelop parcels of Randwick to its members.

“A proposal to develop a small parcel of land at Royal Randwick is in the very early stages of discussions,” an ATC spokesman said.

“A crucial element of any plans would be investment in horse stabling across Royal Randwick, ensuring it was the centrepiece with residential housing added around the equine precincts.

“Before any plans are advanced, we would at first look to consult with ATC members, the racing industry along with Racing NSW, and Royal Randwick’s Trustees.

“The ATC is continually looking at ways to increase its revenues across all its venues, and this is just one example.”

In addition to examining the merits of the Randwick plan, the ATC board is in the process of appointing another member-elected director, bringing its total to five, with two vacant independent director positions still to be filled.

A slice of funds from the Randwick development, or any for that matter if they proceed, is likely to be directed towards upgrading stables and training facilities at the metropolitan course.

While the sale of the entire Rosehill racecourse was rejected by ATC last May, a scenario which became a soap opera and led to an Upper House inquiry into the unsolicited sale process, redeveloping or cashing in parts of the inner western track around Camellia has also become central to the club’s future. 

Canterbury could also play an important role in the future of any ATC sell-off, but those projects have been complicated by the latest scenario presented to the ATC by third parties.

Speaking to the Straight Talk podcast late last year, interim ATC chief executive Steve McMahon said the long-term plan for Camellia had always been to relocate the Rosehill bowling club into a broader mixed-use precinct, potentially incorporating a hotel and year-round community facilities.

“At Camellia, the idea has always been to pick up the (Rosehill) bowling club, move it across the road into a multi-use development where you’ve potentially got a hotel … (where) you can view the racecourse, and it becomes a 365-day experience for the community out there,” McMahon said at the time.

He said the original proposal, first raised almost a decade ago, was flawed and was now being reworked with government input.

“The current government, our understanding is, is looking at what that could look like in the future. Our land’s OK, but the land around us is quite contaminated, so they’re looking at how that works,” he said.

Installed as interim chief executive in September as the replacement for Matt Galanos, McMahon said any development at Canterbury would also be focused on creating a multipurpose community precinct, which includes a 200-unit housing project.

The development on a 1.28-hectare parcel of land on King Street could be worth $70 million.

“Within the next couple of years, that will be realised in terms of development, which will give us the cash we need. So, that parcel of land is pretty much ready to go.”