Habitat's Maroochydore tower approved nearly 23m above height limit

Habitat Development Group said on 20 October that Sunshine Coast council had approved its 18-storey Rivianne tower on Aerodrome Road, Maroochydore. The Urban Developer reported on 22 October that the approved 63-metre building exceeds the site’s existing 40-metre height limit by almost 23 metres, a breach council’s own reasons found acceptable in the public interest.

Why it matters

Council issued the development permit for the Rivianne site, application MCU25/0389, under records this outlet covered on 17 October. That earlier report captured the bare approval of 180 units and a shop and food and drink outlet from council’s Development.i record, before any decision notice or conditions were public. The Urban Developer’s later account, drawn from documents it reviewed, adds detail the Development.i record did not yet show: the approved height, and the planning case council accepted for exceeding it.

The Urban Developer reported that council’s reasons point to the site sitting beside a precinct with higher limits, its location within the Principal Regional Activity Centre, its land area and its three road frontages. Council’s draft planning scheme proposes a 60-metre limit for the area, still short of the 63 metres approved. The outlet also reported that of 185 properly made submissions, 144 supported the application, while objectors raised height, character, amenity and precedent concerns.

Habitat’s founder and managing director, Cleighton Clark, said in the Medianet release: “We’re very excited to receive development approval for Rivianne.”

The numbers

• 18 storeys, a 63-metre tower, against the site’s existing 40-metre height limit, an excess of almost 23 metres, per The Urban Developer.
• 180 apartments, one to four bedrooms, plus five ground-floor retail tenancies, per Habitat’s Medianet release and The Urban Developer.
• 185 properly made submissions on the application, with 144 in support, per The Urban Developer.
• The site spans two lots, 132 and 134-136 Aerodrome Road, Maroochydore, totalling 3,468 sqm, per The Urban Developer.

What’s next

Habitat’s release said it intends to start construction in 2027 and expects the project to employ about 1,100 workers during the build. Neither source named the date council decided the application or detailed the conditions attached to the permit. This outlet’s 17 October report on the Development.i record remains the only confirmation of the bare approval and lodgement path, and did not include the height variation or submission figures now reported.