A development of three 25-storey towers with more than 500 apartments has been approved for an existing retail site in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Toowong.
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In October 2016, property developer Stockland proposed to demolish a Woolworths building and several other retail and commercial outlets to build the three towers on the 1.3-hectare site bounded by Sherwood Road and High and Jephson streets.
After more than a year of negotiation with Brisbane City Council, Stockland was given the green light this month to proceed with its development.
When the development opposite Toowong Village was originally submitted to the council, concerns were raised about design, tower separation, podium car parking, staging and open space.
Throughout the assessment process, Stockland responded to the concerns and adjusted the proposed development.
The application was considered code assessable and did not require public notification, but four residents did made submissions.
All of the submissions cited concerns about parking.
One submission said the development could impact traffic flow in Toowong, especially during peak times.
"Traffic volume will significantly increase over the next five years and no account is taken to this," the submission said.
"Toowong is a bottleneck. Unless there is a broader strategy Toowong will gridlock."
In July 2017 Stockland provided traffic engineering advice they had received from TTM Group which said traffic generations rates were standard for a high density inner urban area.
"As the site is located within 500 metres of train, bus, ferry and trunk cycling facilities, this rate is considered appropriate," the report said.
"TTM identified in the traffic impact assessment that the proposed use will generate 122 vehicles per hour (vph) in the AM peak and 114vph in the PM peak.
"The traffic generated by the proposed use is expected to be less than the existing operation of the site."
For construction to commence, existing tenants will need to close so demolition can begin.
This includes the Newsroom Cafe, Mountain Designs, Subway and Timbuctoo clothing store.
The approved development includes a laneway cafe, restaurant precinct and green spaces.
A Stockland spokeswoman said they were pleased to receive approval for the lodged development application.
"The approval allows Stockland to ultimately deliver up to 533 new apartments across three stages in the heart of Toowong," she said.
"The project is still some way from commencing and is subject to more detailed design planning, review and local market conditions."
