The Astor, Macquarie Street, Sydney was ‘born’ at 3pm on 25 October 1923, on the roof of what was Australia’s tallest residential building. The next day’s Sydney Morning Herald told its readers that the premier, Sir George Fuller, had made the ‘large and representative’ gathering laugh when he said he was closer to heaven than he had ever been before.

HOUSING.

NEW CITY BUILDING.

Co-operative Homes.

INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.

In the presence of a large and representative gathering, including several of his colleagues in the Ministry, the Premier, Sir George Fuller, yesterday afternoon formally opened "The Astor," In Macquarie-street.

It is claimed to be the highest reinforced concrete building in Australia, and it embodies a novel and interesting experiment in co-operative housing.

The opening ceremony took place on the roof garden, commanding a magnificent view of the harbour, the Botanic Gardens, and the city. The statement that the roof is on a level with Killara affords an idea of the towering height of the building, which has been erected in Renaissance style, and comprises 13 floors and a basement, with four homes on each floor. Bridges on each floor communicate with the different homes, and are decorated on each side with flowers.  

The owners of the homes are their own landlords. The central Idea of the scheme, which was initiated by Mr. John O'Brien, who formerly owned the site on which the building stands, is that each occupier purchases his home, taking up shares in a co-operative company for the amount involved, ranging from £2700 to £4000. The only extra charge, it is stated, will be a sum, estimated at not more than £2 per week, for rates, taxes, lifts, cleaning, upkeep, and other common services. The shareholders – i.e., the owners of the homes – elect a board of directors to control the building. Already 36 homes out of the total of 52 have been purchased. The building, which was designed by Messrs. Esplin and Mould, architects, and built by Concrete Constructions, Limited, and which contains several labour saving devices, is the largest reinforced concrete building in Australia, and weighs about 12,000 tons, 4500 cubic yards of concrete and 400 tons of steel having been used in its construction. Most of the joinery work is of Queensland maple, and the whole of the materials, except the glass, have been manufactured in Australia. Automatic fire alarms have been installed in each home, communicating direct with the fire station. The company claims that the building is the most up to date in Australia. Owners of the homes have the right to lease or sell them, subject to approval. This will not be arbitrarily withheld, but it has been regarded as vital to the success of the scheme that reasonable control should be exercised over persons who are to comprise the co-operative community.

Mr. John O'Brien, chairman of directors of the company, who presided at the opening ceremony, said that he had conceived the Idea with the object of a number of people cooperating to build themselves modern homes, free from landlordism, objectionable neighbours, and other flat-life troubles. Mr. O'Brien suggested that the idea of co-operative housing might be adapted to less costly homes to the advantage of working men and their families.

Mr. A. C. Lewis, of Concrete Constructions, Limited, contractors for the building, in speaking of the application of concrete not only to buildings, but also to other modern uses, said that up to 80 per cent of the roads in the United States were being constructed of concrete.

Mr. Donald Esplin, of Messrs. Esplin and Mould, said the fact that there had not been a single accident throughout the course of construction was worthy of note when they viewed the massive structure and considered the work entailed. (Applause.)

The Premier, Sir George Fuller, in declaring the building open, created laughter by observing that the big gathering that afternoon on the roof garden was closer to heaven probably than it had ever been before. He went on to say that concrete buildings, of which that structure was such a magnificent example, and concrete roads were a feature of American life, and he hoped that financial opportunities would present themselves in this State for the development of the State, and more especially the country districts, with the aid of such roads. (Applause.) No system ought to be more strongly advocated and more closely followed than that of co-operation, of which, again, this building was a bold example. (Applause.) Co-operation had done much for the development of the rural industry. The Community and Rural Settlement Bill, which they were introducing that day, would, it was hoped, give a big impetus to co-operative movements for the prosperity alike of the people concerned and the State. A statement attributed to the Lord Mayor recently showed that during the last 12 months the rate of building had been double that of any previous year in Sydney. There were in the community "croakers" who were afraid of their own shadows, as far as the development of this State and of Australia was concerned; but if we were to make our country what it ought to be we required courage, not timidity, and people who had strong faith and confidence in the future of the country. (Applause.) The   magnificent building which he had opened that day stood as a striking example of that confidence, which was a material factor in the greatness of a country. (Applause.)  

A vote of thanks to the Premier was proposed by Mr. Wilfrid E. Johnson. Afternoon tea was served on the roof garden.

When George died of a heart attack in 1944, Frederick’s sister Vera moved into the flat. Born in New Zealand, Vera had come to Australia in 1919 as a stage actress and played in two Australian films 'A Girl of the Bush' (1921) and 'Know Thy Child' (1921), before going to Hollywood for Warner Bros. Frederick had travelled with her and met George in America, where he was an make-up assistant to Max Factor. Fred returned to Sydney with George in 1929, as representatives of Max Factor in Australia. Vera also returned to Sydney 1929 and used her Hollywood status to promote Frederick and George’s agency, before retiring from show business. It is said she ‘starred at the Astor’ and had many lavish parties in the flat.