YIMBY Hobart

21/01/2026

That’s 23 new medium density dwellings for our city. May we have more of this please?

🥳Approved tonight. This re-development at 48-50 and 52 New Town Road is for multiple dwellings (23 dwellings) and visitor accommodation (38 units).

🏋🏾‍♀️ “Additional uses on the site would include a café on the ground floor and consulting rooms, gym and wellness centre on the lower ground floor.

🅿️ A lower ground floor carpark would contain 67 car parking spaces and four motorcycle parking spaces.

🌿 The development would consist of separate buildings connected by walkways and roofing and surrounded by landscaping.”

27/12/2025

https://theconversation.com/what-the-world-can-learn-from-uruguay-as-the-global-housing-crisis-deepens-258342?fbclid=IwdGRjcAO8sIxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeVY47jQR_Rxlj2HaBWx1WJ4wZgG3EzfGnFkjyHOfPGAyYfge4Slmuzoqp7W8_aem_aOuGzGZKQ5XnSqpvlE48wA

One of Latin America’s smallest nations has a robust network of housing cooperatives, which give access to permanent, affordable housing to citizens at a range of income levels.

14/12/2025

Our letter to elected members of Hobart City Council. Our concern is specific to broadacre car yards, the kind targeted by this proposal. Boutique showrooms that are integrated into apartment or other commercial developments can be compatible with an active, walkable city. These models use land more efficiently, contribute to street life, and do not compromise housing development. This is not true of expansive, single-use car display and storage lots.

14/12/2025

YIMBY Hobart media release. Backing better use of CBD land.

26/11/2025

Do you think this will ruin the character of New Town Rd? We don’t.

The $35.2m development would be built on the former WIN TV site…

24/11/2025

Should Tassie follow the NSW government’s lead?

Competition-winning apartment building plans should be approved twice as quickly by NSW councils, and will be three to six storeys high

23/11/2025

We need to work together to fix this:

“Hobart’s unenviable status as one of the least affordable capital cities for renters has taken yet another dive, with even average income earners now becoming priced out.

Released on Monday, the annual Rental Affordability Index – produced by National Shelter and SGS Economics & Planning – has painted an even more dire picture of the city’s rental situation.
Hobart a ‘moderately unaffordable’ city as income to rent ratio dives

Hobart’s unenviable status as one of the least affordable capital cities for renters has taken yet another dive, with even average income earners now becoming priced out.

18/11/2025

MEDIA RELEASE

YIMBY Hobart call for clarity on buyer’s intentions for K&D site

YIMBY Hobart has today called on the new owners of the K&D site to share further details of their plans for the city block.

The call follows public reporting that Tony White Group, a Brisbane based car sales company, purchased the site through the recent EOI process run by the University of Tasmania.

At the time the sale was announced the buyer was quoted as wanting to “deliver lasting benefits for all Tasmanians”, and that the purchase gave them “the privilege and responsibility to contribute meaningfully to Hobart’s future.”

Many car dealerships in Sydney and Melbourne are located on the ground floor of larger mixed-use developments. Given a reported purchase price exceeding $30m, it is likely the buyer’s plans include a wider development of the site.

Quotes attributable to Lachlan Rule:

“We understand that to make a project on this site viable, the buyer will have to develop above the ground floor dealership.”

“There are plenty of examples, including in Hobart, of how a car dealership can co-exist with medium density housing.”

Quotes attributable to Susan Wallace:

“The right development on this site, which has to include housing, could be transformative for the central city.”

“Until the new owners share more details of their plans, there will be considerable anxiety in the community about the future of the site."

Send a message to learn more

18/11/2025

No reason you can’t build homes above car showrooms. It’s already been done in Elizabeth St 🤞

A confidentiality agreement over the sale of a city block previously proposed as a university precinct has lifted, revealing a major Australian car dealership as the successful buyer.

16/11/2025

MEDIA ALERT & RELEASE

YIMBY Hobart: Silence grows over K&D sale

YIMBY Hobart has expressed serious concern about the silence surrounding the sale of the former K&D site in central Hobart.

In October, the University of Tasmania announced the sale of the landmark site for a price exceeding $30 million. At the time, the purchaser said the acquisition was a chance to “deliver lasting benefits for all Tasmanians”, gave them “the privilege and responsibility to contribute meaningfully to Hobart’s future” and that they were “genuinely excited to work hand-in-hand with the community.”

Since then, silence.

In response, YIMBY Hobart is calling on the buyer to make their plans for the site public.

Quotes attributable to YIMBY Hobart spokesperson Susan Wallace:

“We want to work with the purchaser for positive community outcomes, but they’re nowhere to be seen.”

“We’ve written to the University of Tasmania and received no response. The community deserves some clarity about what’s next.”

“During the sale period YIMBY Hobart met with many stakeholders who are excited to be part of creating a landmark, city defining development on this site that also incorporates desperately needed housing.”

Quotes attributable to YIMBY Hobart spokesperson Lachlan Rule:

“A large development with a mix of housing, commercial, and public space, could spur on a wider rejuvenation of the mid-town area, and the CBD more broadly.”

“There’s growing concern that this extraordinary opportunity could be wasted, with the site land-banked, or turned into yet another car yard. Hobart can’t afford that.”

“We’re calling on the buyer to make their plans for the site public.”

Send a message to learn more

28/09/2025

This Tas state government program offered $10,000 incentives to developers building medium density developments.

It was simply not enough to incentivise anything but instead of scaling it up and making it a useful scheme they have chosen to “pause” it.

Quoting a Hobart City Councillor:
“To contextualise some of the cost scale medium density development developers are facing: Storm water - I understand UTAS spent $3M+ on upgrading the stormwater network just to support the forestry building. Plant and equipment - it costs $500,000 just to get a tower crane to site in Hobart.”

Why unpopular housing grants program has paused

The state government has hit pause on a grant scheme designed to incentivise developers to build medium and high-density housing, conceding that the program has “not been as well subscribed as we would have hoped”.