Urban Property Group won't trim 98m Wollongong tower after objections

Urban Property Group has made no change to the height of its Keira Place Stage 2 proposal in its response to submissions, despite 40 of the 44 public submissions received opposing the scheme, the Illawarra Mercury reported. The NSW Planning Portal lists the State Significant Development application, covering 120-122 Smith Street, Wollongong, at the Assessment stage.

The site is the former Smith Street gasworks block in the Wollongong CBD. The portal’s own record describes three buildings of 30, 25 and 12 storeys over a shared podium, mixing residential apartments, co-living housing and non-residential floor space. The Illawarra Mercury reported the tallest of the three towers would stand 98 metres, more than three times the site’s permitted maximum height, and would connect to the Throsby Drive overpass.

Wollongong City Council was among the objectors, saying in its submission that the proposal’s height and floor space ratio exceed the permitted limits and disregard both safety and the council’s own strategic planning work for the area. The owners corporation of the nearby 13-storey Eclipse apartments, on the corner of Belmore and Victoria streets, warned that approval would set a “dangerous precedent” for the surrounding precinct.

Parking was the other major theme in the submissions. Urban Property Group’s response added eight spaces for combined resident and visitor use, taking the total to 378. The development’s own traffic study puts the actual requirement at 488 spaces, leaving a shortfall of 110.

Why it matters

A developer facing 40 objections out of 44 submissions, including one from the host council, had the option to scale back before the state’s assessment proceeds. Urban Property Group instead held its height and made only minor changes elsewhere: separating private vehicle and truck entrances, adding an extra commercial tenancy and adding a laundry room in Building C for co-living tenants. The Mercury reported the response to submissions argued the height was justified by the site’s CBD location and its housing contribution, a sign the developer will make its case through the state assessment rather than redesign around the objections.

The numbers

The scheme’s tallest tower is 98 metres against a permitted maximum the Mercury reported as less than a third of that figure. Of the 44 submissions lodged during exhibition, 40 opposed the application. Parking supplied sits at 378 spaces against the 488 the project’s own traffic study says are required, a shortfall of 110 bays.

What’s next

The application remains with the NSW planning department at the Assessment stage, ahead of a recommendation and then a determination. No decision has been made on the application, and Urban Property Group’s unchanged height and the unresolved parking shortfall both remain before the state as it assesses the application. Wollongong City Council’s formal objection means the project is contested by its own local government area, not only by nearby residents, as the state assessment continues.