The Parq on Flinders apartments, which now fill the triangular wedge of land between Flinders, Campbell and Keira streets in Wollongong, were always going to have a lot to live up to.
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Over the past 15 years, there have been various proposals for the prominent CBD site which have been billed as "transformative", described as Wollongong's answer to the Sydney Opera House, and even played a starring role in the city's infamous sex-for-development scandal that brought down the council.
So perhaps it's no surprise that, as the building which finally gained approval after more than a decade of controversy opens, some are a little underwhelmed by the finished product.
In its final weeks of construction, the 224-unit complex attracted widespread criticism for not matching original artist's impressions supplied by developers. Others complained about the dark-coloured and inflexible interiors in some units, which they say do not live up to off-the-plan promises.
But, as it opened this Thursday, the city's leaders - and many of Parq's new residents who attended the opening - were full of praise for the project.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery was hesitant to comment on the project's design - only saying it was "a matter of taste" and that it had met "quite a few of the requirements" the council had for quality inner city living - but said the building would "do the job" when to came to revitalising the CBD with more residents.
"This is part of the council's vision for the city, because with people comes the expectation for a city that is alive and vibrant," he said.
He also noted the buildings transformed a site which was previously "just a patch of weeds" and was one of the last remaining major parcels of land in the CBD to be developed.
State MP Paul Scully said the completed development would silence anyone who had been cynical, and said it was part of an ongoing transformation of Wollongong into a true city.
With construction estimated to have injected $110 million into the local economy, Mr Scully said it had been a significant economic driver. He also highlighted the many new residents kitting out their homes would bring a boost for the struggling retail sector.
According to real estate agent Simon Kersten, 150 apartments have been sold, with 50 remaining for sale. A number are also being marketed for rent by Mr Kersten's Colliers business.
Site's chequered history
Developer Frank Vellar's plans for the site, which became known as Quattro, played a starring role in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Australian local government history.
In 2005, Mr Vellar's company, Sebvell, was given approval to build a $100-million complex of 276 residential units, 18 retail outlets and 2500 square metres of office space.
With four towers, 15 storeys and parking for more than 800 cars, it was four times higher than it should have been and exceeded many of Wollongong City Council's development controls.
In Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings in 2008, Mr Vellar was shown to have engineered Quattro's development approval with his lover, former council planner Beth Morgan.
The Land and Environment Court stepped in to prohibit the start of work on the Quattro complex and after a lengthy legal battle, the council overturned development approval.
As the fallout from ICAC continued, the site was put up for sale, Sebvell went bankrupt and the prime parcel of CBD land lay dormant for nearly five years.
In December 2011, the council bought the site for $5.2 million, intending to build a temporary car park there for $1.2 million in an effort to keep to large land lot together.
Less than six months later, it put the site back on the market.
It was then that University of Wollongong doctoral student Jan Lindrum, who spotted the site's potential when she first arrived in the city in 2010, stepped in.
Together with four Malaysian businessmen, she formed the Gateway Wollongong consortium and signed a contract of sale with the council.
Ms Lindrum's plan was an ambitious $135 million proposal named "Bass and Flinders Gateway", designed by a Singapore-based British architect who created the glittering shores of Clarke Quay in Singapore and a high-tech cruise terminal in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai.
Despite comparing their project to the Sydney Opera House and Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the developers failed to convince a state planning panel of its merits in 2014.
It faltered in its early planning stages as it could not overcome serious concerns about its soaring 60-metre building height and excessive scale.
The Malaysian consortium lodged the Parq plans in early 2016, presenting a much lower, more modest concept than the previous incarnation.
This was approved later that year, and construction finally began in September 2018.
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