Launceston development: 11 projects worth $1bn-plus in 2022
Tasmania’s northern capital has a pipeline of projects that would make a city three times its size. We take a look at the biggest projects planned. MASSIVE READ >>
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Fresh off its designation as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy and crowning as wotif.com’s Aussie Town of the Year, Launceston is puffing its chest out as one of Australia’s most cosmopolitan regional cities.
However, a decade ago the mood wasn’t nearly so upbeat, long-term mayor Albert van Zetten told The Mercury.
“It was a time when things were quite tough and we felt something needed to be done,” Mr van Zetten said.
The result was the Greater Launceston Plan, produced in conjunction with West Tamar, Meander Valley, George Town and Northern Midlands councils, a “major strategic project to develop a unified and holistic approach to co-ordinate the long term planning and management of the city and broader greater urban area”.
“It was the catalyst which got a lot of things happening,” Mr van Zetten said.
The vision articulated in the plan led to Launceston City Council signing Australia’s second ever City Deal with the federal government in 2018, which unlocked funding for major projects such as the Northern Transformation and the Albert Hall redevelopment.
The top-level support has flowed down, Mr van Zetten said: in 2021, council fielded 771 development applications worth $383m, with a further 673 applications worth $215m the year prior.
Launceston Chamber of Commerce chief executive William Cassidy agreed that the City Deal stimulated a “real awakening” within the region.
“That move has sparked so many positive developments,” Mr Cassidy said.
While not all directly related to the City Deal, the below 11 major projects compiled by The Mercury show just why Launceston’s movers and shakers are so confident about the direction Tasmania’s northern capital is moving.
TasTAFE Launceston campus redevelopment
Developer Red Panda Property Group has applied to the Tasmania Planning Commission to redevelop the mostly vacant TasTAFE campus at 10–16 Wellington St, which it purchased for $6.35m.
Red Panda managing director Andrew McCullagh said the redevelopment would involve a 137-bed “premium art hotel, an array of two, three and four-bedroom boutique residential apartments, eating houses and cafes, specialty bars, and a portion of commercial office space”, with an expected price tag of up to $50m.
Mr McCullagh said the development would be an opportunity to further activate the northwestern portion of the Launceston CBD.
“It’s central but separate, with only the QVMAG (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery) and Royal Park as neighbours and it will build a natural linkage to other recent developments and others that are upcoming in the Paterson St area,” he said.
“It links Royal Park, the gorge, and Seaport precinct to the city centre with a natural flow.”
St Lukes Health head office
Located at 89–93 Cimitiere St, Launceston, the proposed seven-storey, $27m development will include multiple food and beverage/retail tenancies on the ground floor, not-for-profit health service offices on the mezzanine level, and office spaces on the upper floors.
St Lukes Health will occupy two floors, while chartered accountants Newton & Henry will also occupy a floor.
St Lukes Health chief executive Paul Lupo said the project demonstrated the organisation’s continued commitment to Tasmania and the north, after establishing in Launceston in 1952.
St Lukes employees are currently working across four buildings in Launceston, resulting in additional costs and operational inefficiencies associated with occupying multiple sites.
The redevelopment of the site, which formerly housed beloved patisserie/cafe Bread + Butter, is expected to be complete in mid-2023
Northern Suburbs Community Recreation Hub
All levels of government have been progressing plans for a Northern Suburbs Community Recreation Hub, to be located at 316–320 Invermay Rd, Mowbray, as part of the Launceston City Deal, since 2018.
The hub would include approximately 10,000 sqm of usable indoor space and additional outdoor space, indoor multipurpose courts for netball, basketball, volleyball and other sports to address a current shortfall, a relocated PCYC, a Northern Suburbs Community Centre, and a designated gymnastics area.
The state government, which purchased the site for $1.65m, would operate the hub once completed.
The hub currently has $15m of federal funding and $1.1m of council support, but Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said there is a shortfall of approximately $30m.
Meanwhile, there is a parallel proposal by nearby neighbours Mowbray Golf Club and North Launceston Bowls and Community Club to combine their resources through the joint development of a new bowls club on the golf club site.
The proposal includes two new outdoor bowls greens, an undercover indoor green, and new two-storey club and function room on the southern boundary of the golf club.
The new building will include a lounge bar, kitchen, terrace viewing area, male and female change rooms, new administration space, a pro shop and three virtual golf rooms.
On the upper floor, there is proposed to be another bar servicing a large function area, a deck and dedicated kitchen area.
UTAS Inveresk precinct
The $344m ‘Northern Transformation’ project, the relocation of UTAS’ Newnham campus to Inveresk, is well underway, with the most recent major update the opening of the new library in February.
Other projects already completed are the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the North Esk River and the northern Inveresk car park with 852 spaces available for university and community use.
Construction has begun on two major buildings: ‘River’s Edge’, housing humanities, social sciences, law, education and Riawunna, due to open in 2023; and ‘The Shed’ on Willis St, housing science, health sciences, nursing and allied health, due to open in 2024.
Refurbishment of existing Inveresk facilities, the Stone Building and the Architecture and Design buildings will also be completed during this time.
In the shorter term, outdoor spaces including the new ‘community and food garden’, which includes raised garden beds, greenhouses and a composter, and the ‘Esk activity space’, featuring two playing courts, raised timber seating, a running track and bouldering wall, will open in the coming months.
The ‘welcome space’, which features a fire pit and performance space for Aboriginal people to connect, amid wider community events, is already complete.
LGH masterplan
The state government will invest $580m over 10 years to upgrade the besieged Launceston General Hospital, which has been the subject of multiple adverse findings by the coroner in 2022 due to the circumstances surrounding patient deaths.
Under the masterplan, first unveiled in 2018 and with a time frame for delivery stretching into the early 2030s, major expansions including a new mental health services precinct, an expanded and redesigned acute care zone, new medical inpatient unit for older persons and a new car park will be delivered by 2027.
Meanwhile, a new inpatient and outpatient services precinct on the current ‘Northside’ clinic site would be delivered by 2032, as well as a new front entrance for the hospital.
Launceston Church Grammar School Masterplan
The 15-year, five-stage masterplan unveiled by the prestigious private school earlier this year would see existing spaces reimagined into five academic ‘precincts’, the full refurbishment of the boarding house, and the creation of a new ‘entry experience’, among other works.
The new precincts will be performing arts, creative and manual arts, humanities, applied science and experiential learning.
The precincts will be linked by a landscaped ‘academic street’ to provide flow through the school, with visitors and students to be welcomed by an ‘arrival experience’, which would be created by moving vehicle access-ways to dedicate an exclusive pedestrian zone.
Principal Richard Ford said planning for the first stage of development, involving the creation of the humanities precinct and redevelopment of the boarding house with two new wings and shared social facilities.
Kanamaluka Cultural Centre
A partnership between the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Launceston identity Errol Stewart, this $60m facility would feature a 750-seat concert hall and a 1000-capacity conference and exhibition hall, as well as additional performing arts, theatre and cultural spaces.
The centre would be located on the banks of the Tamar River near Kings Wharf Rd and Lindsay St and was first mooted in 2020.
“The cultural centre will be a beacon for performing arts from Tasmania and beyond, and a magical addition to the cultural infrastructure of the state,” said Caroline Sharpen, TSO’s chief executive.
“It will perfectly complement Launceston’s much loved existing venues and add to the vibrant cultural fabric of the city and region.
“For the TSO it is an inspiring realisation of a long-held dream: a northern home for Tasmania’s orchestra, a home that allows us to be in-residence – performing, engaging, teaching, workshopping and learning from the community around us.”
The development would require an injection of up to $45m from the federal government, with additional state government and philanthropic support required.
Launceston City Council recently agreed at a meeting to foot the $10,000-plus bill to prepare a formal development application.
UTAS Newnham Precinct
With UTAS’ final transition to Inveresk due by the start of 2024, plans are afoot to reimagine the existing Newnham campus by expanding its specialist educational facilities and further opening the site to the community.
The university will expand the Australian Maritime College and construct a new $30m ‘Defence and Maritime Innovation and Design Precinct’ to foster maritime-specific solutions as well as a broad range of science and technology capabilities, drawing academics from across the country to support the defence science and technology.
Furthermore, a new $15m defence cadet facility will also be built, with ground preparation works currently underway ahead of work beginning in the latter half of this year.
There will also be a new multimillion-dollar ‘Tasmanian Agricultural Precinct’, which will include headquarters for Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania and the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, to drive regional innovation and research.
In non-educational plans, Communities Tasmania will use part of the site for an affordable housing subdivision and Newnham Creek will be regenerated to create a functional green space for the community, while the oval, UniGym and Lady Gowrie childcare will remain as is.
“A detailed development masterplan would include potential options for reuse of other existing buildings at Newnham, following the university’s final stage of transition to Inveresk in early 2024,” a UTAS spokeswoman said.
Tatler Arcade
This mixed-use development, featuring office, retail and food and beverage tenancies, will activate an unloved building on Saint John St which has lay mostly dormant for years.
The two storey-development, which is nearing completion after being first mooted way back in 2017, has locked in tenants San Churro Chocolateria, Sweetbrew (which will also maintain its George St cafe), Frida’s Paint ‘n’ Sip, Goldfish Kitchen Express & Monsoon Thai, alongside gym offering Body Fit Training.
It continues an exciting couple of months for the southern end of Saint John St, with beloved patisserie/cafe Bread + Butter relocating to nearby Elizabeth St recently and Du Cane Brewing announcing its planned brewery and dining hall at the former Allgoods Tent City is aiming for a soft launch in September.
Albert Hall redevelopment
An $11.58m redevelopment of Albert Hall is currently underway, after the project received $11m from the federal government via the Launceston City Deal.
Stages one and two of the redevelopment, which include upgrades to the hall’s heating, meeting rooms, toilets, lighting, audio and visual capabilities, will be complete by the end of 2022, with Stage 3, a full redevelopment of the hall’s eastern wing, due to commence by the end of 2022.
The proposed redevelopment of the eastern wing will include a new reception area, foyer, cafe and function kitchen at ground floor level, and a new foyer and meeting room at the first floor level.
The redevelopment will also allow the construction of a new accessible entrance, the installation of a lift, as well as a redeveloped loading bay at the southeast corner of the building.
UTAS Stadium redevelopment
As Tasmania’s battle to be granted an AFL licence in 2025 approaches the pointy end of negotiations, the proposed $208m redevelopment of UTAS Stadium a.k.a York Park looms as a key sticking point.
The $208m upgrade, first detailed at the start of 2021, would see the installation of second tiers on the eastern and northern terrace grandstands and a new southern stand, taking the ground’s seated capacity to 24,112 (Stage 1).
Adjacent to the stadium, a new community-based indoor sporting and entertainment facility would also be built, allowing Launceston to host top-flight netball and basketball games, as well as concerts and other live events for up to 5000 people (Stage 2).
The state government has committed $65m towards the project, enough to build the second tiers on the eastern and northern terrace grandstands, but the project requires federal funding to progress further.
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