City seeking community housing provider for affordable housing in CBD

CITY of Coffs Harbour will undertake an expression of interest process to gauge interest from third parties in developing an affordable housing proposal at two CBD sites.

Council hopes to attract Tier 1 Community Housing Providers who will develop No.38 and 41 Gordon Street, Coffs Harbour as affordable housing.

Both blocks are owned by the City and zoned as E2 Commercial Core, with a complying building height limit of 44 metres (roughly equivalent to 13 storeys).

At its meeting on 24 July, Council authorised the General Manager to undertake an expression of interest process.

“We are looking to flesh out any interest from preferably what are known as ‘Tier 1’ Community Housing Providers (CHPs),” Mayor Nikki Williams said.

“These are major operators who typically manage many tenancies, often exceeding 350.

“The process will see if there’s interest in these sites and potentially the expectations and plans of CHPs.

“The exercise will not bind the City to any actions, including the sale of these properties, with the results of the expressions of interest process to be reported back to Council.”

The expression of interest process is to include an option for parties to include a mix of key worker and/or student accommodation as part of an affordable housing proposal.

Council also resolved that the process would be on a preferred land leasehold basis.

No.38 Gordon St is currently the site of the City’s Laboratory, which is relocating to City-owned land on Christmas Bells Road in 2025-26.

No.41 Gordon St currently accommodates a cottage which has been used for commercial purposes.

City Planning and Communities Acting Director Ian Fitzgibbon said it is widely acknowledged there is a lack of affordable housing in Coffs Harbour.

“Affordable housing is generally considered to be where the rent does not exceed 30 percent of a household’s gross income where that is deemed to be low to moderate,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.