The apartments that rise from the top of Rawson Street in Wollongong CBD provide panoramic views from the Pacific Ocean to the Illawarra Escarpment.
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Reaching 75 metres above street level, Signature is the tallest of the bunch, for now.
If plans lodged with Wollongong City Council progress in their current form, Signature will be joined by a brace of other high-rises, the highest of which, Tower 1 at WIN Grand, tops out at 117.8 metres across 38 storeys.
Had proposed changes to the urban planning rules which govern the Wollongong CBD passed in 2020, however, Signature and its neighbours Avante and Skye Tower would stand alone and WIN Grand would look quite different.
Wollongong Councillor Mithra Cox said the proposed changes were the product of a number of studies that aimed to bring life back into the Wollongong CBD.
"It was looking at how to revitalise the city centre, make it a place that is people-centred."
Cr Cox said that density in the CBD was something the plan hoped to achieve, but at a smaller scale that limited overshadowing and wind tunnels, while preserving views from the sea to the escarpment.
"When you build one tall building, that one building has great views. If you allow tall buildings everywhere, then not only do those buildings no longer have views, nobody has them, and once you've lost them, they're gone forever."
At a meeting in December 2020, Labor and Liberal councillors joined together to delay the proposed changes. Ms Cox and her Greens colleagues, along with independents including Mayor Gordon Bradbery, voted against the delay motion.
At the time, Councillor David Brown said changes to development rules should wait until access and movement studies, a retail study and affordable housing documents were prepared.
In an email, Cr Brown said with these studies now progressing, work would continue on the review of planning laws in the Wollongong CBD.
Councillor John Dorahy, who also spoke in favour of the delay in December 2020, said that Wollongong was well placed to have taller buildings.
"Wollongong is the third largest city in NSW, and we're hogtied by the mountain range behind us and therefore, there's possibly only one way to go once the West Dapto, Marshall-Mount development occurs and that's to go up," he said.
Already, Wollongong has the tallest buildings in NSW outside of the Sydney and Parramatta CBDs. Cr Dorahy said the city's topography and status meant that taller buildings were suited to the city's CBD.
Councillor Cath Blakey said that the proposed planning changes aimed to prevent Wollongong CBD from turning into a precinct similar to Melbourne's Docklands.
"[Urban renewal] doesn't necessarily work if there's not that focus on liveability and public realm," she said.
Cr Blakey proposed a vision for the Wollongong CBD that drew off a different side of the Victorian capital.
"Melbourne is really famed for its laneways, at the moment [in Wollongong] you can build up to 120 metres if you have a big enough block size. That is likely to close off blocks and it goes against that walkability that we really need to improve in our CBD."
Cr Cox said she would be pushing for the changes proposed in 2020 to be put back on the agenda.
"It was a really important set of planning guidelines that would set Wollongong up well for the future and be a great place to live, increasing density, increasing the liveliness of our streets. It should be a key priority for the council to implement those changes."
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