TQM Group plans $70m, 26-storey apartment tower in Wollongong

Plans for developer TQM Group’s $70 million, 26-storey apartment tower at 21 Auburn Street, south of Wollongong’s city centre, have been revealed, the Illawarra Mercury reported on Wednesday. The development application is on public exhibition until 13 November.

Why it matters

The application seeks a tower rising to 78 metres, above the area’s base height limit of 60 metres. The extra height is sought under the state government’s height bonus, triggered because 30 of the proposed 160 apartments would be set aside as affordable housing. The design includes a three-storey podium, four levels of basement car parking and a restaurant at ground floor. A publicly accessible, landscaped forecourt is proposed on the site’s southern frontage, which the application describes as an interactive social space, shown in a render credited to DWA Architects. The application’s statement of environmental effects describes the city centre as “rapidly changing,” pointing to taller, higher-density mixed-use buildings nearby, and calls the forecourt a positive contribution to the centre. An image credited to Urbaine Design Group shows the neighbouring Lifeline shop dwarfed by the proposed tower.

The numbers

The application proposes 160 apartments, 30 of them affordable housing, across the 26-storey tower. A traffic study submitted with the application states that the proposed 177 parking spaces meet the requirement set by the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan, and that nearby intersections can absorb the extra vehicle movements. A view impact assessment examined 19 locations across the city and found impacts ranging from negligible to moderate-to-severe, noting that surrounding terrain lessens the impact, particularly from the east and the coastline. Up close, the assessment judged the tower’s visual presence acceptable given the apartment blocks beside it and the growth the city has planned for the area. The Mercury reported the $70 million figure as the value of the tower.

What’s next

The development application is on public exhibition until 13 November, when the public comment period on the proposal closes. The Illawarra Mercury report does not name the consent authority or give a date for a determination.

The Auburn Street application is separate from another Wollongong apartment tower proposal that drew height objections earlier in the year; the two proposals involve different sites and different developers.