For Tullimbar resident John Dwarte, living in the new development is great, except when it comes to deciding what to have for dinner.
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"We sit there at night going, what are we going to have for dinner, where's somewhere that we can go out for dinner?"
Currently, there is no answer to this question within walking distance of the 300 homes that make up Tullimbar Village, but as the owners and operators of Ambiance Ristorante in Unanderra, Mr Dwarte and wife and business partner Aleida Dwarte saw an opportunity to change that.
"We had been on the lookout for a second site and as soon as we saw something come up [in Tullimbar], we were straight in to looking at how we can get involved because we are super passionate about the area we live in," Mr Dwarte said.
The second location for the Dwarte's business is one of the final tenants in the Tullimbar Village town centre at 53 Broughton Avenue which is now fully leased. A separate mixed residential and commercial development is underway at 50 Broughton Avenue.
The development application for 53 Broughton Avenue is currently before Shellharbour City Council, but Walt Coulston, director of developer CK Property Group, said he expects construction to begin by mid 2022.
The delivery of a commercial hub for the suburb of Tullimbar has long been a focus for the community.
The community, when originally proposed, was meant to be a walkable village, where residents did not need to get into the car to go to the shops. However, more than ten years after the first residents have moved in, the closest shops are still in Albion Park.
Fiona Magro, who has operated the Anytime Fitness gym in Albion Park for the past nine years, and will open another site as part of the Tullimbar Village Centre, said that the growth of new developments outside Albion Park meant that the current facility cannot keep up with demand.
"The centre of Albion Park since all these housing developments have gone in has been pretty hectic, parking is difficult," Ms Magro said.
The future gym would enable Ms Magro to run more group fitness classes, particularly for older people, and utilise the outdoor spaces which is not possible in Albion Park.
In addition to a restaurant and gym, the confirmed tenants for Tullimbar town centre include a FoodWorks supermarket, NIDO Early School, a real estate agent, a pharmacy and GP practice.
The centre has been designed by architects Nettletontribe.
A focus for the developer in acquiring tenants has been that each of the businesses are owned by locals, with the FoodWorks operated by the Rabay family who own stores in East Corrimal, Brownsville, Unanderra and Kiama Downs and the pharmacy operated by Mina Messeha, who has pharmacies in Shell Cove and Flinders.
Above the commercial sites on the ground floor will be 22 one, two and three bedroom apartments and more than 160 car parking spaces.
Mr Coulston said having the units as part of the development would add a diversity of housing types to the Tullimbar Village.
"There's never been one apartment, designed, approved or built in Tullimbar."
For Mr Dwarte, as a resident and future business owner, he is looking forward to the community finally having its commercial heart.
"We all bought into Tullimbar waiting for this town centre to open and this ticks the boxes for us."
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