Toowoomba council grants $1m infrastructure charges concession to 10-storey commercial, residential project in CBD

A 10-storey project that will become Toowoomba’s tallest building has been given a major boost after the council gave it a $1m discount. Here’s why.

A bold plan to create Toowoomba’s tallest building on one of the CBD’s largest remaining vacant lots has received a major boost thanks to a $1m concession from the council.

New South Wales developer Gerard Hanna will move ahead next year on a massive new mixed-use development on the site of the old Toowoomba Gasworks plant on Neil Street.

The project, which was approved last year by the council, will include a two-storey shopping centre, multiple commercial tenancies on the ground floor, nearly 220 car parks and 56 units across 10 storeys, with a maximum height of 41m.

For context, the Easternwell building has been estimated at 35m, while the People First Bank head office is about 25m tall.

Conceptual designs by architecture firm Buchan for the new Gasworks Rejuvenation project, a mixed-use residential and commercial precinct along Chalk Drive in Toowoomba City.

The development’s location within the Railway Parklands priority development area allowed it to get around the six-storey limit usually applied to applications in the Toowoomba CBD.

The viability of the development was boosted on Tuesday after councillors voted to grant Mr Hanna a $1m reduction in his $2.4m infrastructure charges bill.

The discount was made through the TRC’s longstanding Temporary Toowoomba CBD Development Incentives Policy, which can grant developers a reduction for residential projects so long as certain criteria are met.

Strategic infrastructure planning principal Josh Leddy said the Gasworks project technically didn’t meet all requirements under the policy to comply, but those were simply due to “drafting errors” by the council.

The old gasworks site on Neil St in Toowoomba City.

“The application demonstrates strong alignment with the purpose of the policy,” his report said.

Mr Leddy said the applicant had informed the council construction will have “substantially commenced” by June 2026, with the site requiring significant gas and stormwater relocation before foundations can be drilled — the cost of which would be mitigated by the infrastructure charges reduction.

Councillors unanimously supported the proposal, with Carol Taylor calling it a “great outcome” for the CBD.

This is the second project to receive a reduction in charges through the CBD incentives policy, following the development of Oaks Toowoomba on Ruthven Street by Kenneth Wagner’s company in 2019.

Originally published as Toowoomba council grants $1m infrastructure charges concession to 10-storey commercial, residential project in CBD