Surge of new professionals drives Wollongong office boom as rents hit record highs
And RDA Illawarra Shoalhaven unveils its FY26 strategy.
A wave of new professional and healthcare businesses is transforming Wollongong’s office market, driving up demand for smaller, higher-quality spaces and pushing rents to record levels.
Colliers’ Director of Commercial Property, Kady Leggett, says small firms are powering the city’s growth story.
“Healthcare and professional services are the biggest contributors with nearly 70%,” she said at Colliers’ 2025 Wollongong Office Leasing Report launch at Hotel TOTTO on Thursday, September 25.
“It’s psychologists, mental health, and disability services. On the professional side, it’s accounting, IT, and lawyers. Those small businesses, often self-run.”
Many of these companies are entirely new to the city. “They’re businesses that haven’t been in Wollongong prior - whether they’re moving here or residents starting something new,” Leggett explains. “Around 80% of new entrants need space under 200 square metres.”
That demand has breathed new life into B-grade buildings, which owners have adapted to meet the market. “The B-grade stock has been repositioned and carved up into those small tenancies, and they’re surviving, if not thriving,” Leggett says.
“Rents have gone from $415 to $450 a square metre. If you had told me two years ago, with the 11,000 square metres of extra stock coming on the market, that B-grade was going to go so well, I don’t think anyone would have predicted that.”
The shift toward smaller offices is also being driven by hybrid work. “Gone are the days when the old ratio was one person per 10 square metres,” Leggett said.
“Now, 10 staff might only need five desks because they’re hybrid working. That has shifted demand into a smaller area range. We’re also seeing Sydney firms setting up 200 square metre satellite offices here.”
New A-grade office buildings, such as The Globe (being built on the former David Jones site in Wollongong Mall), are nearing completion, and landlords are under pressure to keep pace.
“If the B-grade stock isn’t upgrading their lifts and end-of-trip facilities, then they’re sliding into a C-grade offering,” Leggett says. “Tenants still want quality, they just want it in smaller tenancy sizes.”
But the biggest test may still be ahead. “We’ve got about 30,000 square metres under construction,” Leggett says. “On top of that, there’s the potential for another 40,000 square metres to come. With A-grade already sitting at over 16% vacancy, it’s going to be important to try and drag those larger businesses to the Illawarra before that new stock hits.”
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In other news
Regional Development Australia Illawarra Shoalhaven (RDAIS) launched its new website and branding at The Builder’s Club on Wednesday, September 24.
During the event, new chair Adam Zarth and CEO Selena Stevens unveiled the organisation’s strategic priorities for 2026, which outline priorities to grow investment, deliver infrastructure, and strengthen leadership across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, and Jervis Bay. You can read the full report here.
Another week, another business awards
Wollongong is rolling out the red carpet again tonight for the FLARE Awards at WIN Stadium’s Grandstand Events Centre.
The awards from The Small Business Hub celebrate women business leaders across Australia.
Award categories include Woman Changing the World, The Next Gen Leader and Empowering Young Women.
Local favourite Sharna-Lee Baylis from Illawarra Dance Academy is up for three awards, including Creative Entrepreneur, FLARE of the Year and The One to Watch.
And in case you missed it, here are all the pictures from last week’s IMB Business Illawarra Awards.
We’re listening to …
Nick Davies- Hack Attack. It was the world’s biggest phone-hacking scandal which shut down a British newspaper, tormented grieving families, and counted its victims at 12,000-plus.
The News International phone hacking scandal is now the basis for a “fictional” series on streaming service Stan, called The Hack. Don’t have Stan but want to know more about the scandal that involved everyone from corrupt police to MPs, celebs galore and even Elle Macpherson?
This 2016 London Real podcast will help frame the actual events. Skip the first 10 minutes of guff if you want to hear direct from Davies.
Hot Ticket
Can you believe it’s NBL season already? The Illawarra Hawks are playing their first home game of the season on Saturday, September 27 at 8pm.
Fan favourites Sam Froling, Tyler Harvey and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk will join new signings Jonah Antonio, Jonah Bolden and JaQuori McLaughlin at the WIN Wollongong Entertainment Centre.
You’ll be hard pushed to get an Arena ticket, but there are plenty available in concessions. Check out the membership packages here.
Future Proof
Have you been enjoying our Future Proof series from former Canberra Times and Illawarra Mercury journalist, Connor Pearce?
Earlier this week, the series covered the potential for affordable housing in Wollongong City Council’s CBD carparks.
In the series, Connor has examined the fault lines across key sectors that will define the Illawarra over the next decade. You can read the stories here:
Go south-west: Can Picton Road and the SWIRL precinct unlock new corridors of growth?
Port Kembla’s energy future: Will gas, hydrogen or offshore wind win out—and who will decide?
The new care economy: With aged care and the NDIS under pressure, what comes next?
Cranes in the sky: Housing policy from the ground up—and why not everyone agrees.
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