WATERLOO: The 700-unit residential development initially proposed for the three towers over the Waterloo metro station has become a 474-unit student housing tower to the south with a lower large floor plate commercial office building in the north.
The increased commercial space has decreased the residential floor space. Affordable housing is set at a minimum of 5 per cent of residential floor space so it has decreased from 35 to 24. There will be 126 market apartments sitting above the affordable housing in the central tower. Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) will end up with the 70 social housing units, which sit in the southeast corner of the site.
These changes reduce the number of car spaces from 427 to 155.
The height on the northern tower has dropped 26 metres reducing some morning overshadowing of Alexandria Park. The developers do not need to consider overshadowing by their development on the park proposed by LAHC to the east of the station. This is another consequence of separating the planning for the two sites. The state government handles the station site while council handles the estate.
Changes like the removal of the community centre from the metro plaza and the possibility of increasing the commercial space at the expense of residential were changes that resulted from the initial exhibition.
Other changes come from the developers who successfully bid for the site. The developers had a student-housing provider, Igloo, available to take over part of the site. Mirvac, while a developer, also plans to own and operate the commercial, retail, community and plaza spaces.
It is much easier for the developer to find a childcare centre operator, which is a permitted “community facility”, rather than deal with the complexities of providing a community centre. There will be a 66 square metre community room administered by Mirvac.
It is possible there will be some changes to the final plan from this exhibition but we do now understand what the Waterloo metro will contain and look like.
Many tenants have expressed concern at the latest changes and the implications of having a student and commercial development on their doorstep. Waterloo Public Housing Action Group (WPHAG) has referred to them as Broken Promises.
Council has advised the Waterloo South proposal will not go to Council before Christmas.
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Geoff Turnbull handles SSH Urban Design content and is a co-spokesperson of REDWatch.
