One of the last remaining cottages at the harbour end of Smith Street will soon become an apartment block.
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Like countless other free-standing inner-city homes, the quaint early 20th century beach house at 16 Smith Street was bought by developers.
According to plans lodged on behalf of the Saad Property Group, it will become a nine-unit apartment complex made up of two separate buildings.
At the front of the 835 square metre site, a four-storey wing will contain four apartments with balconies facing Smith Street.
At the back of the site, a five-storey, seven level building will have five north-facing apartments.
The complex will also include a basement car park split over two levels with space for 17 cars.
Despite the age of the cottage – which was built pre-1948 – the developers say there are no heritage issues relating to the site.
They are seeking an exemption to some of the design criteria regarding “visual privacy” and building separation, as they say compliance has been difficult to achieve due to the small size of the site.
They attempted to buy-out the owners of the neighbouring 14 Smith Street apartment building in order to make use of a larger site, offering up to $2.65 million – however this was declined.
They have argued that the two-building design “allow[s] for each unit to have main openings to the north thereby reducing main openings which need to be located along the side boundaries”.
The property group has argued that “design features” like narrow or smaller “highlight” windows in some of the bedrooms will ensure “that an appropriate degree of visual privacy is maintained to the adjoining properties and within the development”.
The developers say their plans are in line with Wollongong council and state government plans for the desired future character of the area.
“The proposal will increase the number of residential premises on the site,” they said. “This increased density is in keeping with the current regional strategic plan and will compliment other land uses within the city centre.”
They have argued the development is “in the public interest” as it “represents orderly economic development of an isolated lot without unreasonable impact on the development potential of adjoining sites”.
The cottage site was bought by Saad’s Property Group in March 2017 for $1.7 million after being listed for sale several times since December 2015.
The plans are on exhibition until January 15.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
