Parramatta councillors have thrown down the gauntlet to the Commonwealth Bank: move into our revamped city centre, or someone else will.
Councillors have grown increasingly frustrated by the bank's delay in announcing whether it will take up tenancy in the proposed multibillion-dollar Parramatta Square.
The council has for months been pinning its hopes on the bank becoming the major commercial tenant of the square, approving the demolition of its own council building and library in anticipation of a decision being made.
But at a closed meeting on Monday night, councillors discussed ensuring the Parramatta Square project was not reliant on the bank's decision.
Councillors said there were multiple other corporations interested in the site, including another of the big four banks, and they no longer wanted to be at the Commonwealth Bank's mercy.
"All the CBA is doing is kicking the can down the road," one councillor said afterwards. "What do we do? We keep waiting for them or we go back to the market place."
Another councillor said: "If they [the CBA] want to play ducks and drakes, let them play ducks and drakes. At the end of the day we've got a multibillion dollar project that we have to build for the city and it will be their loss."
The bank's leases expire at Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park in 2018-2019. A Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman said a shortlist of options had been made but there were still "many months of complex discussions and negotiations remaining".
The council is also keen to get on the front foot should the bank decide not to move into the $2 billion square.
The Parramatta Square project has been in the pipeline for more than two decades and has a long history of setbacks and cost blowouts.
However, the project has surged forward this year - with the appointment of designers to create the public space - and the council is keen to keep the positive momentum.
Some councillors worry that too much emphasis has been put on the Commonwealth Bank becoming the tenants and it could be seen as a blow if they choose another site.
"Too much emphasis has been put on them," a councillor said. "Absolutely everyone wants them there but the whole thing isn't contingent on them."
"Anyone who is foolish enough to think the lack of a single tenant is the death of Parramatta Square is mistaken," said another.
