[COM] Victoria Square Upgrade - $24m

[Dvious]

Stage 1 does not have arbors. People need to understand that the other 2 stages will probably never happen. It is a 100 million dollar project, and we are currently 76 million short on the rest, which won't come anytime soon.

[Patrick_27]

Stage 1 does not have arbors. People need to understand that the other 2 stages will probably never happen. It is a 100 million dollar project, and we are currently 76 million short on the rest, which won't come anytime soon.

Stop being such a defeatist... stage two is set to follow in the 2014 council budget. Sure enough, the state government will offer some support in the lead up to the election.

[how good is he]

Even though probably factual I still really struggle to see how it can cost $76m to finish this off [as per master plan]. Even on my most generous estimates it comes up to maybe $45m ie Stage 2 - landscaped native gardens/Aboriginal interpretation centre/wetlands on the south - maybe $15m tops..... Stage 3 - the road re-alignments, perimeter gardens and the full arbours - $30m tops... Can anyone explain how it could cost $76m to finish this off [unless the builder is making a $30m profit]?

[mattblack]

Even though probably factual I still really struggle to see how it can cost $76m to finish this off [as per master plan]. Even on my most generous estimates it comes up to maybe $45m ie Stage 2 - landscaped native gardens/Aboriginal interpretation centre/wetlands on the south - maybe $15m tops..... Stage 3 - the road re-alignments, perimeter gardens and the full arbours - $30m tops... Can anyone explain how it could cost $76m to finish this off [unless the builder is making a $30m profit]?

Where did you get your estimates from? want to give us all an insight?

[mattblack]

Stage 1 does not have arbors. People need to understand that the other 2 stages will probably never happen. It is a 100 million dollar project, and we are currently 76 million short on the rest, which won't come anytime soon.

I think that you need to understand that these sort of views are no longer the view of the majority. If you want to hold on to views that are of 1990's vintage join the Park Lands Preservation Society, their views have stayed the same for the last 50 years. You'll probably feel more at home than being on this forum.

[Patrick_27]

Even though probably factual I still really struggle to see how it can cost $76m to finish this off [as per master plan]. Even on my most generous estimates it comes up to maybe $45m ie Stage 2 - landscaped native gardens/Aboriginal interpretation centre/wetlands on the south - maybe $15m tops..... Stage 3 - the road re-alignments, perimeter gardens and the full arbours - $30m tops... Can anyone explain how it could cost $76m to finish this off [unless the builder is making a $30m profit]?

Where did you get your estimates from? want to give us all an insight?

Your estimates are so wrong. The $76 million is what remains of the projected $100 million budget. Even then, that estimate is wrong. This current stage had an original pricetag of $20 million and blew out by $4 or so million. You forget the cost of logistics, workers, delay. The estimate of $30 million for road re-alignment forgets that they have to re-align the tramline and its wiring, pedestrian pathways, stormwater services, phone and electical works.

[Nathan]

This current stage had an original pricetag of $20 million and blew out by $4 or so million.

Did it actually blow out? They did expand the scope of stage one, as they pulled forward the work of the central road which was originally part of stage two, which would account for the increase in cost.

[how good is he]

Yes I don't think there has been a blowout...just the road part of stage 2 brought forward..
Just some comparisons to consider.....the ACC will spend $8.7m on the whole of the Victoria Park re-development and its maybe 10 times the size of this..but I am happy to hear anyone who knows what the breakdown is here and why so much....
My estimate for stage 2 & 3 here is there is max. 10,000 sqm of land to be ""developed" (1 hectare or 2.5acres) & allowing $4,000 a sqm to actually build something of a high standard, it comes to $40m... even allowing for road & tramlines re-aligning, cost of services, delays, preliminaries blah blah blah no real structure is even being built...

[how good is he]

And the most recent comparison of what $100m buys you is the State Aquatic Centre.

[claybro]

the ACC will spend $8.7m on the whole of the Victoria Park re-development and its maybe 10 times the size of this..but I am happy to hear anyone who knows what the breakdown is here and why so much....

Now there is a question that should be asked......why the hell is a few bitumen paths and some beds of dead native grass in Victoria Park going to cost $8.7 MIL?

[Phantom]

the ACC will spend $8.7m on the whole of the Victoria Park re-development and its maybe 10 times the size of this..but I am happy to hear anyone who knows what the breakdown is here and why so much....

Now there is a question that should be asked......why the hell is a few bitumen paths and some beds of dead native grass in Victoria Park going to cost $8.7 MIL?

$8.7 mil, eh? Which is a third of the amount of the Vic Sq upgrade, for as 'how good is he' said earlier, 1/10th the size? Something doesn't quite add up here...

[Nathan]

There's a substantial amount of work to services under the road, they're not just ripping up the bitumen and laying pavers. I guess it's the same as Rundle Mall, where they're using the redevelopment as an ideal time to do a lot of work below ground as well.

[how good is he]

And with Victoria Park there was a lot of remediation of contaminated soil, they renovated the heritage grandstand (and removed all the racecourse things inc. structures) and all the other things like new paths/tracks, planting trees/natives/wetlands, lighting etc

[SRW]

I don't think $100 million was ever confirmed as the total budget but rather just a figure that was being bandied about by The Advertiser. IIRC, a few councillors (maybe David as deputy?) explicitly denied that figure. But maybe the $100 million figure emerges if you factor in some of the extra works the masterplan initially envisaged (again IIRC) such as an underground heat exchange for surounding office towers, and the giant video screen.

[Stubbo]

I'm no expert on how much these things cost but traveling past the site day in day out on a bus and watching the changes I don't think 24 mill is too much. There appears to be significant works going on underground and it seems to being built with longevity in mind.