Gosford council building set for sale and transformation to TAFE campus and housing

It’s a piece of Gosford history but the old council building is set to be sold with big plans that will change the city. See what those changes will look like and have your say.

Negotiations are underway for the sale of the old Gosford council building to be turned into a TAFE Campus and housing.

Central Coast Council is in talks with the state government and Landcom for a sale price on the iconic premises on Mann St, which also includes the old Broadwater Hotel site and extends through to Henry Parry Drive.

The plans are to transform the old eyesore into a state-of-the-art vertical TAFE campus along with housing, including affordable housing options.

Impression of the plans to transform the old Gosford council site to a TAFE campus and housing.

It also helps the council secure much needed money to help ease its financial crisis. The old administration building was on the list of assets to be sold as one of the many strategies to pay off the $565m debt.

The concept for the TAFE came from Central Coast Parliamentary Secretary Adam Crouch who went to his state government colleagues with the idea.

“This is one of those watershed moments for the Central Coast,” he said.

“We know that a project like this is going to create 1000 jobs and around 3000 potential TAFE education spaces.

“For the Central Coast to be the fist region ever to have a vertical TAFE campus is so exciting. It will be great to see the Gosford CBD book ended by a university at one end and TAFE at the other. What that will do to revitalise the CBD and keep us moving forward as a vibrant active city cannot be underestimated.

The building is iconic to Gosford. Picture: Sue Graham

Central Coast Parliamentary Secretary Adam Crouch came up with the idea for the new campus on the council site.

“This proposed campus will play a central role in educating and training the current and future workforce on the Central Coast and support its growth as a major centre for education in NSW.”

NSW Skills and Tertiary Education Minister Geoff Lee said several years ago the state government committed to transforming Gosford into an educational precinct.

“Today marks a big step forward, we are announcing that we are commencing a business case to work closely with the council and Landcom to develop a vertical campus right here on this site of the old council chambers,” he said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to build first class facilities so we can educate the future workforce. It will be the first vertical campus that TAFE is actually commissioning. We want to make Gosford the heart of education.”

Vertical impression of the plans.

He said the plans would result in jobs and more education opportunities including expanding the courses on offer.

Mr Lee said the plan was to deliver the development as soon as possible and also joked “council is going to give us a really cheap price”.

Landcom chief executive officer John Brogden said it was clear the Gosford CBD was desperately in need of an upgrade.

“We hope to reach a successful negotiation with Central Coast Council in order for Landcom to take over the site and combine it with the TAFE and also housing opportunities right in the centre of Gosford CBD,” he said.

He said demolition was a possibility for the iconic building however said it was “built to last” and may just be refurbished. He said they hope to be “on-site” within 12 months and have people buying investment properties off the plan within three years.

NSW Skills and Tertiary Education Minister Geoff Lee wants to start asap.

Landcom CEO John Brogden.

Mr Brogden said Landcom’s research shows that to revitalise CBDs, you need housing.

“It means people are here not just during the day but at night at restaurants and events,” he said.

Council’ chief executive officer David Farmer said council had been looking to sell the building and was approached by the NSW government with the “city shaping” idea.

“We were very excited to achieve two aims; one to achieve a fair economic return on the site but secondly to ensure we got a really good outcome in terms of development on this site,” he said.

“The state government’s proposal answers the need for urban renewal at that end of Gosford and the educational nature of the proposed precinct compliments the recently opened Clinical School at Gosford Hospital and Council’s own Regional Library due to start construction in May 2022.”

The old Broadwater Hotel site is included in the proposed redevelopment. Picture: Sue Graham

Council’s Administrator Rik Hart said it was ironic that the opportunity came out of the “chaos that occurred when the Central Coast “went broke” and had to sell assets.

Mr Hart said some of the $60m asset sales are going to turn into massive job opportunities.

He said he was sure they would reach an “amicable deal” by the end of the year.

“This can be the catalyst for Gosford to move forward, it can link to the waterfront and the opportunity with this is going to bring foot traffic to a lot of businesses here,” he said.

The Central Coast Conservatorium will be included in the plans.