Cranes put Wollongong on the national stage

Wollongong is celebrating making its debut on the national crane index.

With 18 cranes on the skyline the city comes in ahead of the Central Coast with 14, Newcastle 12, Sunshine Coast 11, Hobart 5 and Darwin 1.

Wollongong ranks only behind Gold Coast with 29 cranes for having the most in regional Australia and only one behind Adelaide.

The RLB Crane Index is published by Rider Levett Bucknall biannually in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Gulf states and Southern Africa.

It included Wollongong for the first time with assistance from Wollongong City Council’s Economic Development Department.

Using data provided by economic development manager Mark Grimson, the index showed Wollongong had the lowest recorded single residential mix of cranes in Australia but had the highest mixed use percentage.

Those eight cranes show the majority of residential developments in the city are at mixed-use projects which include Parq on Flinders, Crownview Wollongong, Signature in Regent St, Avante in Rawson St, Skye Wollongong, Atchison St, and the Verge in Underwood St, Corrimal.

There are five cranes on residential projects in Loftus, Beatson and Church streets, as well as The Village in Corrimal.
And there are commercial cranes at the Gateway on Keira Street and the new IMB Bank headquarters.

Cranes on educational developments are located at the Molecular & Life Sciences Building and the Social Sciences and Law, Humanities and the Arts Building at the University of Wollongong. Another crane is located at the day surgery development in Urunga Parade.

The release of the national crane index coincides with the launch of Invest Wollongong as new branding for the city.

Demolition has also started on Lang’s Corner and Mr Grimson said when the 19th crane is erected in coming weeks it will be for the largest A grade commercial office development to occur in the city. It is almost twice the size of the IMB development on Burelli St.

Mr Grimson said it was fantastic to see Wollongong included on the national crane index which will help put the city on the international radar.

“The more people who understand and know of the development happening in the city the more there will be an appreciation of the opportunities that exist here.“

“Ultimately this will help promote the city and create more jobs and more opportunities for our young people and those commuting outside the region”

“This is about how people perceive Wollongong. There will be a lot of people who read this report and be very surprised.

“A part of our challenge is to keep the momentum going to ensure we continue to raise Wollongong’s profile at the national level so people understand the opportunities that exist here from a business and investment perspective”.

Only Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and the Gold Coast rank ahead of Wollongong on the national crane index.

Source: https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6457376/18-cranes-on-skyline-wollongong-a-national-construction-hotspot/

Article: Greg Ellis, Illawarra Mercury.