Sydney Morning Herald: This inner-city concrete ‘wasteland’ could be Sydney’s next beer garden

Jessica McSweeney
Sydney Morning Herald
June 20, 2025

It’s the concrete hole in the ground that anyone making the dreaded hike up the steep hill of Albion Street in Surry Hills would have noticed.

Giant weeds have sprouted from gaps in the concrete, rusty fences line the block and residents of apartments opposite are treated to a view of an eyesore that has sat unchanged for years.

But the site would be transformed into a spot for food trucks, a beer garden, a performance space, markets or even a roller-skating rink under a proposal to be presented to City of Sydney council on Monday.

This Block in Surry Hills will become a future substation. Credit: Louise Kennerley

The prime slice of Surry Hills land, opposite Frog Hollow Reserve, was a warehouse before it was demolished in 2003 to make way for apartments. That plan fell through, and the land was bought by Ausgrid, which used it as a dive site for the construction of power cable tunnels in 2013.

Transgrid purchased the land for $50 million in 2015, and it has since remained a mostly empty concreted block (but for the water that pools on the concrete after heavy rain, prompting some locals to dub the site the “Surry Hills Yacht Club”).

The unsightly pit does have a future – but potentially not for another decade. In 2040, Transgrid will need the site to build a replacement for the Haymarket substation, which provides electricity to inner Sydney.

City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Zann Maxwell at the Transgrid site. Credit: Louise Kennerley

City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Zann Maxwell wants Transgrid to work with council to investigate interim uses for the “fenced-off wasteland”.

“This isn’t just wasted land – it’s wasted opportunity,” he said.

“I’m not challenging the need for future infrastructure if Transgrid says that’s what’s needed – how would I know? I’m just saying that, in the meantime, we should see if it could be doing something more for the community: anything but a giant, empty hole.”

Maxwell also wants Transgrid to investigate if the future substation could co-exist with other potential uses of the site.

A Transgrid spokesperson said it would work constructively with council and Maxwell, whom they have invited to tour the site. The company still plans to build a substation there “in the coming years”, the spokesperson said.

“In the interim, Transgrid is open to discussions, however must prioritise safety and the securing of the power supply for consumers in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs over potential alternative uses for the Riley Street site.”

As Sydney grapples with the need for more housing and public space for its growing population, scrutiny is on councils and landowners to unlock underutilised land.

Sydney’s most infamous hole in the ground, the site of the old Ryde Civic Centre, remains an unused pit after the modernist building was demolished in 2021.

Cash-strapped Ryde City Council could not afford the $113 million rebuild, and is now set to open expressions of interest from developers to take on a long-term lease of the site to build housing.