Changes to height limits in the Kiama CBD has led to a plan for a five-to-six storey apartment block and retail centre with two supermarkets.
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Developer Level 33 has lodged the development application for a multi-storey complex including 82 apartments, 24 retail outlets and basement parking for 344 cars on Akuna Street, a block behind the main drag of Terralong Street.
It's on the very same site that has seen Kiama Municipal Council caught up in a legal fight with a different developer.
This latest application comes just over a week after Traders in Purple announced plans to build more than 1000 homes on a site west of the town and a 67-home development in Dido Street is being considered by the Southern Regional Planning Panel.
Combined they show the town of Kiama could look very different in the coming years.
The Level 33 application was made possible after changes to Kiama's development control plan raised height limits in the Akuna Street area from three storeys to between four and six storeys.
Height restrictions were also eased in other areas of the CBD in a motion passed by council in November last year.
Artist's impressions lodged with the application show two buildings - a large one between five and six storeys high and a smaller six-storey building on the western side of the block.
The two buildings are separated by public open space.
Vehicular access to the site will be via a laneway that is proposed between Terralong and Akuna streets.
As part of an effort to balance its books, the council sold the Akuna Street site to Level 33 in December 2022 for $28 million - the single-biggest commercial transaction in the council's history.
The documents have only just been lodged and are expected to go out on public exhibition by the end of the month.
Given the large scale of the project assessment and a final decision will not be made by the council but the Southern Regional Planning Panel.
The panel had approved a previous plan for the site from developer Nicolas Daoud, but it fell through when the council decided not to sell land - which has led to an ongoing multi-million dollar court case.
Council CEO Jane Stroud was pleased to see the Level 33 development application submitted.
"I know the community have been keen to see what would be proposed on this prominent site, following the sale of the land by council," Ms Stroud said.
"It is great to see the owner reaching a stage of being able to lodge an application with council for assessment."
"I know the community will be interested in what the development includes. I encourage the community to view the document during the exhibition process to form their own views and provide submissions to council for consideration through the process."