A social housing project for older women at risk of homelessness is about to reach its first major construction milestone, with the podium slab due to be poured in September.
The five-storey building on Argyle Street in North Hobart will provide 38 studio apartments for women aged 55 and over.
Each apartment will have its own kitchen, bathroom and private balcony.
The development will also include communal spaces, a vertical garden and on-site parking.
Vos Construction is building the project, which is being delivered by the St Vincent de Paul Society and Housing Australia with oversight from Homes Tasmania.
The milestone comes more than two years after the development almost failed to get off the ground.
The Hobart City Council rejected the original plans in May 2024, despite a recommendation from its own planning officers to approve them.
Councillors who voted against the development raised concerns about its height, parking and traffic.
St Vincent de Paul and Amelie Housing appealed to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) and later amended the design.
The building’s height was reduced by 40 centimetres and the traffic impact assessment was updated, cutting estimated daily vehicle movements from 579 to 103.
The council backed the revised proposal in August 2024, clearing the way for the development to proceed.
Housing Minister Kerry Vincent said building on a tight inner-city block came with challenges.
“Delivering housing on a constrained inner-city site requires careful staging, site preparation and coordination to ensure the project is set up for successful delivery,” he said.
“I’m glad to see those works underway.”
Federal Franklin MP Julie Collins said she had pushed for the project for years.
“I have fought hard for this project because I know it will make a difference,” she said.
“The crane in the sky over this important new project sends a strong signal to every Tasmanian that our government is serious about tackling our state’s housing challenges.”
St Vincent de Paul chief executive Connie Digolis said the society wanted future residents to have a safe home and a place to live with dignity.
She said the development was “exactly the kind” of investment the society wanted to make.
“Women over 55 are one of the groups increasingly vulnerable to housing insecurity and homelessness, at a time in their lives when they should not have to worry about whether they have somewhere safe to call home,” Digolis said.
“For many women, a lifetime spent raising families, earning lower wages and having fewer opportunities to build savings and superannuation can leave them particularly exposed when circumstances change later in life.”
The project is one of 128 new social homes to be delivered across Tasmania by 2028 through the federal government’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator Payment (SHAP).
It will receive $13.36 million from the fund, $2.65 million from Housing Australia and $700,000 from St Vincent de Paul.
Work on the apartments is expected to be finished late next year.
