Biggest ever! Plans lodged for 38-storey North Gong skyscraper
Wollongong‘s Lord Mayor has already said it’s too big, but with no set height limits in place, a Sydney developer has today (Friday) formally lodged plans for a 38-storey skyscraper less than 50 metres from North Wollongong Railway Station.
As reported by The Illawarra Flame in early May, Urban Property Group (UPG) decided to informally release its plans to gauge community reaction to the proposal, along busy Flinders Street, to go far higher than any building in the city’s history.
Official or not, the reaction was swift.
“A catastrophe”
At Wollongong City Council’s May meeting, Lord Mayor Cr Tania Brown said she thought it was way too tall. Addressing that same meeting businessman, Michael Corban said a building of that scale would be “a catastrophe”. Town planner, Terry Wetherall said he feared an approval would create a future ”urban slum” for the city.
Neighbourhood Forum 5 rejected the plans at its May meeting saying “the height was grossly in excess of current Council limits” and “the proposal is in a flood plain, contrary to State policy to prohibit increase in density”.
Concerns have also been raised about traffic congestion and extra pressure on limited street parking in an area already struggling to cope with the combination of rail commuter traffic and nearby bottle shops. Shading of nearby homes and the North Wollongong Hotel and limiting views to the escarpment have also been flagged as issues which need to be addressed.
No height limits
Undeterred, UPG has moved ahead and now lodged its DA under the NSW Government’s State Significant Development (SSD) guidelines which has no height limits.
While the new plan is very similar to the original proposal on a site currently occupied by a car yard, there are some changes.
The overall height of the residential tower block remains at 38-storeys but its height has increased from 128 metres to 130 metres. Without SSD, the height limit on this site under the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan would be 32 metres.
The tallest building on site will include 303 apartments, including 45 affordable housing units. The development will also include 174 student-friendly co-living units.
The current trend towards less car parking than units continues. The plans are for 246 car parking spaces, 171 bicycle spaces and 14 motorcycle parking spaces.
While there are outdoor rooftop areas on the 30th and 38th floors there is no play-space identified for children and limited space for mature, shady street trees due to the first-floor podium extending to the site boundary.
The public has two months to make comment on the plans (until Friday 17 July 2026) and documents can be found online at: www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects
At time of writing, Planning Minister and Wollongong MP, Paul Scully, has not directed that a public hearing should be held.
