Jury out on Glebe Island tenders

Five tenders for the Glebe Island interim facility are being assessed by Infrastructure NSW, as project director Tim Parker promised the successful operator would deliver a "first rate" venue for exhibitions and trade show.

Following several months of preparations, tenders to design, build, operate and remove Glebe Island Expo drew to a close earlier this month.

Five bidding teams have submitted proposals, including The Sydney Expo Consortium, GL Events SA and Expertise Events. Renascent Sydney and Sydney Harbour Expo@Glebe Island are also in the running, with a winning consortia to be selected next month.

Infrastructure NSW project director Tim Parker confirmed that the firm had received "strong interest" for the development, which will allow Sydney's events industry to prosper while the Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct gets underway from 2013-16.

"We are confident this will translate into a first rate interim venue for exhibitions and trade shows, putting the events industry in the best possible position to take advantage when our new world class facilities open at Darling Harbour in late 2016," he told The Nibbler.

"Creating a high quality interim venue at Glebe Island will ensure Sydney remains number one for the events industry," he added.

While details of the facility are yet to be revealed, Glebe Island Expo is expected to be a marquee style structure with exhibition space up to 25,000 square metres. 

Construction is expected to kick off mid year for operation by the end of 2013.