$37 Million Luna Park Sydney Revamp

[Jamberoo Fan]

Long article with most content non-theme park related so relevant portions, which most again is not directly theme park-related but shopping centre-related, below.

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Quote

Luna Park owners raise cash for revamp

By Carolyn Cummins

February 22, 2025 — 12.15am

Bill Gravanis, the new owner of the harbourside Luna Park through his family-operated hospitality operation Oscars Group, has raised $37.4 million to help fund the revamp of the theme park through the sale of The Village on Summer Street mall in Orange.

The co-seller of the shopping centre was architect Paul Saunders, who bought the Central Tablelands-based centre with Oscars for about $22 million in April 2019.

NSW hospitality group Oscars acquired Luna Park to turn it into a “top-five tourist destination”. Credit:Dean Sewell

Centennial and its retail joint venture partner Parkstone Funds Management bought the large-scale 21,090-square metre landholding, which includes the 4947 sq m mall and 2573 sq m of developable land.

Centennial executive director Paul Ford said the centre offered strong defensive income based on its largely non-discretionary retail mix, positive growth indicators for the region and limited new supply of retail assets in the area.

“We are well on our way to scaling our retail exposure towards in excess of $1 billion and during an attractive point in the retail sector cycle,” Ford said.

The Village on Summer Street mall in Orange.

The deal was brokered by Steven Lerche of Savills and Nick Willis, Sam Hatcher and Sebastian Fahey of JLL.

Carolyn Cummins can be contacted at carolynannecummins@gmail.com.

Carolyn Cummins is Commercial Property Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. Connect via Twitter or email.

 

Edited Friday at 02:17 PM by Jamberoo Fan

[Baconjack]

If I was to guess it's probably an asset sale that needed to be done to fund the cost of the lease and doesn't indicate any plans for park investment. Wasn't the lease quoted at $70m originally? Oscars appear to be asset rich at a glance but who knows if they had the cash to afford the lease.

"Revamping" the park is pointless when everything is basically new. The overwhelming majority of the rides are just over 3 years old. On top of that Wild Mouse has been completely rebuilt, the venues have been upgraded very recently and a large chunk of the food & beverage outlets have been somewhat recently renovated. Multiplex did up the place top to bottom before they sold.

What could you exactly do with the park? Renovate Coney Island again (it's already in great condition as it stands)? Change the food and beverage outlets again? Luna Park investment wise is an ultra long game - Multiplex spent 15 years milking the existing park to its last dollar before getting new equipment in ready for a sale. It's also a cash cow - Big Top is a money printing license - probably why companies are interested in Luna Park as an asset to begin with.

(for the record i'd love the second generation hot racer trains on big dipper which has fixed the roughness issues with the model, but i doubt it'll happen)

Edited Friday at 02:39 PM by Baconjack

[Spotty]

The only place that they could really expand (and I'm not sure if they actually can for structural reasons) would be ontop of the carpark. But even then you could maybe fit 1 or 2 flat rides at the most. The only thing I can think of is maybe a repaint of the front half of the park and just giving a general refresh. Not really much could be done given the space they have. But any investment is good investment.

[aaronm]

My visits to Grona Lund tell me there is plenty of opportunity to add more coasters if they try.

[Dean Barnett]

If we’re going by Gronalund they could fit a B&M invert on that bad boy 

[red dragin]

Ignoring the neighbours and their complaints 

[Baconjack]

2 hours ago, aaronm said:

My visits to Grona Lund tell me there is plenty of opportunity to add more coasters if they try.

Grona Lund is also quite a bit bigger than Luna Park, isn't built on a skinny plot of land and doesn't have big rides and large buildings that are heritage listed (ie: about a quarter of the land)

Good luck cramming shit on top of each other (or build things underground) at Luna Park. You'd pretty much have no luck.

Edited Saturday at 12:33 PM by Baconjack

[downunder]

Maybe they'll focus on the hospitality side and building that up. They could maybe jam a small Eurofighter in there or a Maurer SC 2000 (fun, cheap little coaster). They'd love to get that land behind Maloney's corner.

Gronalund has a thriving restaurant/hospitality scene as well, which would serve as a good model. Great spot to be out at night.

Edited yesterday at 07:41 AM by downunder

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 22/02/2025 at 9:16 PM, red dragin said:

Ignoring the neighbours and their complaints 

It's almost a guarantee that they will ignore them, but LPS is required to maintain the aesthetics associated with the heritage park - it's why Hair Raiser had to go with white lighting instead of the kebab shop.  As long as any new attraction can be fitted into the 'heritage style' the neighbours can GF themselves.

14 hours ago, downunder said:

They'd love to get that land behind Maloney's corner.

Unfortunately the public sentiment in the area would never permit it. the residents resent the amount of land LPS already has and would do anything to shut the park down (they already tried many times). You can bet that the sale of public land to a private corp that already has this much local opposition wouldn't be easy.

Personally though i'd love to see them build something like California Screamin \ Incredicoaster. A beautiful steel launched coaster with the wooden coaster aesthetic. I know it wouldn't be financially the best option, but i'd happily see them take out the big top for that.

[downunder]

^Like I said, they'd like to get the land, but that's unlikely.

[Jobe]

Yeah the land behind Maloney's Corner is still state owned and still utilised by Citi rail as an important marshalling yard for trains. Its also a very important walking corridor around Lavender Bay and is highly used.

LPS tried to get the zoning for the land that they use as picnic grounds and overflow seating to allow rides and attractions and submitted a DA to allow this. The independent member for North Sydney Council, Ian Mutton ( a real douchebag when it comes to LPS) led a chorus of residents against the proposal and LPS instead of fighting it, quietly withdrew the application and so it remains what it is. Ian Mutton is also the main voice behind converting the railway line to a highline walkway all the way back to Wollstonecraft station. He has been lobbying the state govt for this for a number of years but the fact remains that Citi rail still require the land and the line so this is not happening anytime soon.

There is zero chance of LPS getting any of the land behind Maloney's Corner due to a lack of political will and fierce resident objection plus the fact that the land is still currently in use and not surplus to demand by the railway.

My ideas for how to expand LPS would definitely cost more that $37 million ( which if we are being honest- is not a huge amount of money if we are talking about reinvestment of attractions) but I guess any of my ideas could be done in stages. They are just ideas and form part of a plan on what I think would be great for the park- plenty will disagree or hate what I propose but at the end of the day they are just my views and ideas. 

The original poster who said that the top of the carpark is the only real available space left to expand is 100% correct. Currently it is a green space with soil, grass and seats but this could be easily removed. The soil and grass would have some weight to it but another factor we would need to check is safe load bearing for this area and if it can handle the weight of any attractions that would be placed upon it. It may mean that it will require some extra bracing and reinforcement to attain the safe load bearing structurally but I am sure that this could be easily done.

What I first propose is to move every single kiddie ride and attraction to this central point. This includes all 6 kiddie rides from Maloney's Corner to be reinstalled here. This includes the Freaky Frogs, the Silly Sub, the Cloud Nine, the Loopy Lighthouse, the Bug mini Ferris Wheel and the Little Nipper Rollercoaster. This would then form a kiddie precinct with all the kids rides available in an accesible space. This then could be themed with sails and plenty of seating for the mums and dads.

To access this new kids precinct, there would be a need to erect a walkway and accessible ramp with lanes for up and lanes for down. It needs to be big enough to accommodate prams and wheelchairs and its important to note that there would also be an entrance to this area located on street level at Alfred Street.

This pedestrian ramp would be built in front of the current ticket office and shop at the front and would snake out so that it starts in the middle of the midway, allowing for access to the ticket office and shop underneath. Of course it would need to be themed and Luna Parkified and the below pic is just an illustration showing the concept.

Now that we have room in Maloney's Corner we can think about what attractions we can add that would give value to the mix. IMHO, I feel that LPS is currently heavy in kiddie rides and then thrill rides. There is not a lot in between so I think that some rides that the entire family can appreciate would be in order.

First order of business I would move Hair Raiser from its current position to inbetween Boomerangs Helix- making much better use of the available space. This would then free up its current space for a new attraction.

In the space that is currently occupied by the kiddie ride Cloud Nine, I would install a Gerstlauer Sky Roller 16. This is a mild thrill ride that the entire family can enjoy and its thrill factor can be upped by how far you want to roll your gondola. This would fit well into the current available space and would not be too high so that it would interfere with the Luna Park Planning act.

In the space next to Boomerang and what was formerly home to the Little Nipper kiddie coaster and The Bug Mini Ferris Wheel, I would install LPS's 5th roller coaster- an Intamin Vertical LSM coaster. The designs for these coasters have small, medium and large and they are promoted as being highly customisable. If Intamin can design and fit a Hot Racer coaster into where the Big Dipper is situated then they can surely fit one of these into the footprint that is available. I did consider the Zamperla Heart Coast or a Premier ride Sky Rocket II but I feel that given LPS's good relationship with Intamin this would be the best option. Not great capacity for a new coaster but given what is available and the land we have to work with this is probably the best we could see without taking out more rides than you are adding in.

I would then remove the Dodgems from where they currently reside and build a new Dodgem Pavilion where the Silly Sub currently is situated, along the back wall of Coney Island. I would theme it to be sympathetic to the Coney Island aesethetic, The below pic is meant to give an illustration of what the new Dodgem pavilion "could" be like.

In the space where the Hair Raiser currently sits, I would put in a family attraction that has a great throughput, is thrilling but fit for the whole family and would give much needed kinetic energy back to the midway. I am referring to a Fabbri Flying Carpet ride, which would fit in nicely in this footprint adjoining the ice cream parlour building. They have a high cpacity with 40 riders per cycle and up to 960 riders per hour.

Where the Loopy Light house currently sits I would install another great family attraction in the form of a Zamperla Nebulaz. These are fascinating to watch and add great amounts of kinetic energy to the midway but I have heard they are fairly forceless. Still they are visually excellent and a unit would fit into the footprint perfectly and its a great ride for the entire family to experience.

My plans for the space that is currently filled by the dodgems would possibly be controversial. With the dodgems removed to Maloney's Corner, this allows quite a large space to be utilised for a dark ride to be returned to LPS. I would envisage that this footprint could be expanded in 2 ways. There is a redundant ticketing office situated at the side of the front of the dodgem footprint that could be used and the footprint could also be extended to come out into the midway as far as the Big Dipper bridge which would also give back some space for the footprint ( please see below photo to see what I mean) Luna Parks Main toilet block for that end of the park is behind the redundant ticket office so that part of the footprint could not be utilised.

Still this would give a decent space for a dark ride of some form. What would I like to see? Well I would return the Ghost Train back to LPS. Yes some would say that this is quite triggering but there are a few things as to why this could work. Firstly I think that the dark ride would work well as shooter with some scare elements attached to the ride. The shooting scenes could utilise props or screens or a combination of both. The concept is sound and is one that Luna Park had explored before- the park did an excellent in house scare walk through called Mystery Manor which was so popular that it stayed for longer than was intended. Lastly, the return of the Ghost train was planned in the early stages of the refurb for Maloney's Corner. A dark ride is needed at LPS and this plan would give the space available for the park to have one again. I think it would be an asbolute winner. Time to call Sally Dark Rides methinks!

The final stage of my plan is also quite contoversial and one that I have mentioned here in years previously but i still see it as having merit.

I would replace the current Ferris Wheel with a new unit. Specifically an Intamin Coaster Wheel. This would be unlke no other Ferris Wheel in Australia and it would cater to all members of the family- rides on these are quite thrilling on the swinging cars and there are also the static "normal" cars on the outside for people who wish to have a normal ferris wheel experience. This would be a win win in my opinion and you could theme it approriately with an excellent lighting package. Call it The Moon Wheel. 

So there you have it- my musings on how LPS could expand their ride and attraction lineup. This would give a total of 6 new rides - 1 new thrill coaster, 4 new family flat attractions and the return of a dark ride to LPS for the first time since the 1979 fire. Also you would have reimagined Dodgems and a "new" version of the Ferris Wheel. This would be quite an expansion for the park and it would certainly give the park an overall "Grona  Lund" feel.TGis would round out the parks attractions , adding much needed capacity and would also flesh out the day for any visitor to the park. It also leaves the Big Top and the Crystal Palace intact for their functions side business which is hugely important to the overall LPS business plan. $37 million would not really cover it but lets all remember that they spent $15 million alone on the Big Top and Crystal Palace Immersive experiences. 

[downunder]

@Jobe  great info and ideas. 

I doubt it's possible, but it would be cool if they could squeeze an out and back coaster along the cliff lines in the gap between the big top and the cliff (i.e. tracks almost side by side). Maybe load behind Coney Island and have turn around past the big top. Just keep it below the cliff line for the residents lol. I'll get off RCT now.