No kids' playground for our highest 38-storey skyscraper

If approved, it will be Wollongong’s tallest building, measuring 38 storeys, including more than 500 apartments to accommodate more than 1,000 people.

In the first public release of the ambitious plans for the North Wollongong railway precinct, Sydney-based developers Urban Property Group (UPG) confirmed on Wednesday the high-rise project will tower 127 metres above the Wollongong skyline. That’s about four times higher than the standard height limit for the area.

While the detailed design of the building remains a work in progress, the project team has presented their first images of what the city’s tallest building would look like and outlined how it would impact on North Wollongong and surrounds.

The project, earmarked for a site currently occupied by Wollongong City Motors on Flinders Street, is adjacent to North Wollongong Railway Station and it falls within a special state development zone that allows for increased densities to address the current housing crisis.

Under the new rules, this project will be entitled to an additional 15 per cent “bonus” in height which would take it to a height of 41.6 metres – that’s still 85 metres below what's being proposed by UPG.

At Wednesday night’s meeting of Neighbourhood Forum 5, which represents the interests of residents in the central Wollongong area, independent Councillor Andrew Anthony expressed his concerns about the scale of the building.

”We don’t have to become the Gold Coast or New York City,” he said.

NF5 Secretary David Winterbottom said he believed the current plans were “an ambit claim”, which would ultimately need to be scaled back.

No playground for kids

During a one-hour community webinar earlier in the day, the proponents answered a wide range of questions from residents, and delivered an emphatic “no” when asked if there was any provision for a children’s playground in the project plan.

It begs the question: has there ever been a residential precinct of this scale built anywhere in Australia with no area set aside for children to play? Is this the trade-off in 2026 for governments – enthusiastically supported by developers – in their determination to get more homes built to solve the housing crisis. What‘s in it for kids?

Addressing the height issue, architect Anh Nguyen said the building would feature “earthy, warm and textured materials to give it a rhythm” to “descale the height of the building proposed”.

Responding to concerns that the area in question was a known flood zone and that the car yard which currently occupies the site was “under water” in the April 2024 flood, the proponents expressed confidence that the project wouldn’t worsen flooding in the area and the six levels of underground parking on site would remain dry during a one in 100 year flood event.

Views won’t be affected

When asked about the impact of the building on shading and views to the escarpment, residents were told the project team had “identified several key view corridors“ and “this site isn’t affected by those view corridors”. The proposal won’t have any impact on the view of Mt Keira, according to the UPG team.

One resident expressed concern that the height of the building would mean people living to the west of the railway line would lose sunlight for a section of the day.

Town planner Terry Wetherall questioned how the busy location would cope both during the construction phase and longer-term, with on-street parking at a premium for commuters accessing the railway station.

He was assured a traffic management plan would ensure minimal and only “temporary“ disruption during construction, and the issue of on-street parking “is definitely something being considered”.

The webinar audience was also assured there would be no restricted access for pedestrians accessing the railway station during construction. The project team said it was yet to consider if the existing bus stop on Flinders Street would need to be relocated during the construction phase.

An assurance was given that businesses operating in the immediate area, including Dan Murphy’s, the IGA supermarket, Harbourside Fish Market and Liquorland, had received letters outlining what was planned and the potential impact.

The proponents said they wouldn’t be seeking any noise restrictions for the North Gong Hotel on the opposite side of Flinders Street “and we wouldn’t be seeking any changes in trading hours” to protect the amenity of people moving into the new high-rise.

Original plans to include hotel rooms have been removed from the latest proposal, meaning there will be 298 standard apartments and 211 “flexible” co-living apartments designed for university students or young professionals.

Four-year project timeline

Once the project team has received feedback, they will finalise plans for the site before lodging a formal development application. They told the webinar they're hoping for an approval in early 2027 and the construction timeframe “is probably two years at least” meaning, best case scenario for the developers, the project would be completed in 2030.

The project team acknowledged that for something of this scale there would be community concerns, but they said they were proposing a building height well above Wollongong City Council’s Urban Design Framework to address the current housing crisis “so people can live next to public transport services”.

As such, “different places need to do the heavy lifting,” the concerned residents were told.