From the top of The Works Corrimal, the view stretches east to the ocean, west to the escarpment and south to WIN Stadium.
It’s an outlook that comes with a $1.5 million price tag for a penthouse at the 180-home development on Corrimal’s former coke works site.
A 112-square-metre, two-bedroom apartment is priced at $895,000.
Wollongong’s leaders gathered on the 17m-high roof of Building 1.5 on Friday, October 2, where they placed a tree to mark the topping-out milestone for Stage One of The Works development.
Scaffolding still surrounds the building, and the newly poured concrete is stark white. The construction team poured 1,000 square metres of concrete in just 11 days.
The sweeping outlook takes in a city already undergoing change. The Works itself is also set to change further, with a broader master plan envisaging about 850 homes, up from the original 550-home proposal. The next residential stage proposes buildings of up to six storeys, although approval is still pending.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister and Member for Wollongong Paul Scully said Wollongong’s changing landscape was necessary.
“Cities aren’t static. I’ve said that many, many times before. They need to change, they need to grow and they will,” he said.
Scully pointed to the site’s proximity to Corrimal Station, existing water and wastewater infrastructure, and investment in walking and cycling links as reasons to build more homes there.
But he acknowledged the changes would not be welcomed by everyone.
“For some people they see a change in the community they’ve lived in for a long, long time and it’s going to look different into the future, and they find it confronting,” he said.
“What you often don’t hear from, though, is the people who will come to call homes like this their home.”
The coke works closed in 2014, with redevelopment plans emerging in 2017. The site was rezoned for housing and open space in 2022, following years of consultation and debate about its future. The Land and Environment Court approved the first five residential buildings in April 2025, and construction began in September last year.
Member for Keira Ryan Park addressed what he called ‘the elephant in the room’: the difficult path from industrial site to residential development.
“Those of us who’ve been with the project since the very beginning, I can assure you it hasn’t been easy. Hasn’t necessarily been loved by everybody in our community,” he said.
Park recalled discussions about the coke ovens closing, followed by years of community meetings, emails and negotiations over the site’s future.
“In staying the course with you, we now have an opportunity for people to perhaps get their first opportunity to live in the northern suburbs, an opportunity that was slipping before their eyes,” he said.
Park said young people had been priced out of the northern suburbs over the past 10 to 15 years.
“That’s not good for our community,” he said.
“Developments like this are important, because we need a mix of housing, not just one type of housing, to ensure that we cater for different parts of the market, and to ensure people can get an opportunity to buy their first home.”
The Works’ first five buildings contain two- and three-bedroom apartments designed by DKO Architects, with balconies and courtyards.
The original 1912 brick chimney, sections of the coke ovens and the former powerhouse building will be retained around a planned Heritage Plaza.
Legacy Property founder and chief executive Matthew Hyder said topping out made the new neighbourhood visible after years of work.
He said the first 180 homes were part of a longer-term investment in Corrimal, with further housing, shops, parks and public spaces planned for the former industrial site.
“Our belief in Corrimal and the Illawarra has shaped this project from the start. This is a proud community with a strong sense of identity and a need for quality homes close to transport, and we are committed to delivering this neighbourhood stage by stage.”
The next residential stage of the masterplan, Stage 2A, includes 207 apartments, including 57 affordable homes, across four buildings of four to six storeys. The NSW Government’s State Significant Development process is assessing it, and it has not yet been approved.
Separate civil works for stages two to four, including roads, drainage, central and southern parks, and subdivision, were approved in August.