The NSW Government has approved plans to redevelop the former Verona Cinema site in Paddington, New South Wales, clearing the way for a $97 million mixed-use project that will return cinema screens to Oxford Street for the first time since the venue closed in January 2024.

Developer WT Malouf will deliver a 7-storey building comprising 64 homes, ground-floor retail, a bar, and a four-screen cinema. The residential mix spans 46 apartments, four terrace homes, and 14 affordable rental dwellings. A number of the apartments and terraces will carry views over Paddington toward the harbour. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2026.

Restoring the building's original fabric

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG), the Sydney architectural practice that converted the site from a former paper factory into the Verona Cinema in the 1990s, has been appointed to design the redevelopment. The scheme retains and restores the building's two-storey brick facade, which will continue to front Oxford Street. Interior design is by Richards Stanisich.

TZG director Tim Greer, who worked on the original cinema conversion nearly 30 years ago, says the site carries an established weight in Sydney.

"The Verona is an iconic address," says Greer.

Cinema returns to Oxford Street

The original Verona Cinema opened on Valentine's Day, 1996, when actor Nicole Kidman officiated the launch while her then-husband, Tom Cruise, waited outside. The cinema operated for close to three decades before closing in January 2024 ahead of the redevelopment.

Under the approved scheme, a four-screen cinema and bar will return to the site, to be operated by Golden Age, the independent operator also behind the screens at Paramount House in Surry Hills.

WT Malouf director Jack Joseph, who grew up in Paddington, frames the project around restoring community access to the precinct alongside delivering new housing.

"The part of the Verona that was always for everyone is back for everyone—the ticket, the bar, the Friday night film," says Joseph. "Including new homes within the precinct makes it possible to bring back this important community asset."

Shared amenity and residential mix

The 64 homes span 46 apartments, four terraces, and 14 affordable rental dwellings, with a portion of the apartments and terraces offering views over Paddington toward the harbour.

Residents will share a landscaped ground-floor courtyard and a rooftop terrace featuring a 20-metre infinity pool. Construction on the 7-storey building is expected to begin by the end of 2026, with TZG's involvement marking a return to a project the practice first shaped from an industrial shell nearly three decades ago.

Image: WT Malouf/TZG

Architecture & Design Team

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