Sydney’s iconic Sirius building is up for sale as the NSW Government hopes to raise $100 million and knock down the ‘eyesore’ public housing block in the process.
Boasting unbeatable views of Sydney Harbour including the bridge and Opera House, tearing down the brutalist-style structure and forcing out its tenants into other accommodation has faced stiff opposition.
The last resident, legally blind great-grandmother Myra Demetriou, 91, was packing her bags to leave by December 15 after losing her four-year fight to stay, having previously refused to go until she died.
Sydney’s iconic Sirius building is up for sale as the NSW Government hopes to raise $100 million and knock down the ‘eyesore’ public housing block in the process
The last resident, legally blind great-grandmother Myra Demetriou, 91, was packing her bags to leave by December 15 after losing her four-year fight to stay, having previously refused to go until she died
‘I hope nobody buys it, that’s all I can say,’ she said as the sale was announced on Thursday from her two-bedroom flat on the top floor she pays just $100 a week to live in and has called home since 2008.
Ms Demetriou confronted NSW Social Housing Minister Pru Goward at the flat along with Save Our Sirius activists, calling the government was ‘greedy’ for selling off the building.
‘They want to sell us off too. I’m legally blind, my knees don’t work, I can’t climb steps, just ridiculous – the thought of packing up and moving horrifies me,’ she said.
Her new flat is in Pyrmont, but the blind woman claimed in October it needed to be made more accessible for her as it had slippery flooring, no laundry and limited storage space.
Sirius finally went up for sale on Thursday with the NSW Government planning to fund new social housing with the cash
Boasting unbeatable views of Sydney Harbour including the bridge and Opera House, tearing down the brutalist-style structure and forcing out its tenants into other accommodation has faced stiff opposition
She has million-dollar views of the harbour – but can’t see them due to her blindness
The Department of Family and Community Services told Daily Mail Australia it ‘worked intensively with Mrs Demetriou who has recently accepted the offer of a new home’.
FACS on Thursday said her new housing had been made accessible for Ms Demetriou’s needs.
Just weeks ago the 90-year-old was sure she ‘would not be leaving’ and spoke to Daily Mail Australia as the last resident of the huge apartment building.
Mrs Demetriou, who pays $100-per-week for the apartment which boasts multi-million dollar views, has had her own security guards since becoming the last resident in the block.
‘I think it is ridiculous, spending all of this money on guards – three of them are in the entrance just to sign people in,’ she said.
‘We have a laugh with each other. Every time I come down I say ”good morning gentlemen” and they say ”hello boss”.
Mrs Demetriou pays just $100 a week for the apartment – just weeks ago she said she would never move out
The 90-year-old blind great-grandmother has been the last person living in the iconic Sirius building – which is guarded day and night – and has a concierge of three just for her visitors
MrsDemetriou has to leave her home of almost ten years by December 15 – and is afraid her new place won’t be set up with her blindness in mind
But the guards are there for her safety, a spokesperson from the Family and Community Services said, and they were put in place after incidents of unauthorised access.
‘New security measures, including a concierge, provide a safe and secure building for the remaining residents and their guests.’
‘FACS will continue to support Ms Demetriou as she moves into her new home,’ according to the spokesperson.
Ms Goward noted 60,000 people were on NSW’s social housing waiting list, with proceeds from Sirius being used to build more social housing around the state.
Developers could choose to retain Sirius and refurbish it into private housing or knock it down and start over – but any new development would need to be six stories shorter – the same height as a nearby bridge.
The Sirius building sell-off is part of the state government’s plan to sell 300 state-owned properties in prime locations across Sydney, including 240 properties in nearby Millers Point, to raise up to $500 million.
Save Our Sirius foundation chairman Shaun Carter said the fight to save the building was not about money and if the government was serious about raising the funds it wouldn’t spend $2.5 billion redoing ‘very young stadiums’.
A community fight to save the building has all but failed with the government declining to register it as a heritage building twice
The elderly great-grandmother has been the only person living in the 79-unit building since mid-October
The plan to sell of Sirius and terraces in Millers Point was unveiled in 2014 – the government claims the money will go toward more public housing