WIN Corporation, headed by billionaire Bruce Gordon, has taken a big plunge into real estate by buying up a whole city block in the centre of Wollongong and unveiling plans for its 39-storey WIN Grand.

The company, headquartered in Wollongong, is widely known as the country's largest regional television network and 50 per cent owner of the NRL St George Illawarra Dragons club.

The Gordon family's plans, worth around $400 million and covering 1.3 hectares, offers retail and residential space, an aquatic centre, and high rise towers with 400 apartments.

It is the biggest development Wollongong has seen since the iconic GPT Shopping Centre located across the road was unveiled in 2014.

According to project director Steve Turner, what will set WIN Grand apart is the three residential towers above, including at 39 storeys the tallest building in the city.

"But not as dramatically as it sounds.

"It will be around eight to ten stories above the current tall point of that building."

Mr Turner said the project has come as a result of a long, slow acquisition process.

"WIN Corporation have been long-term owners of property for decades in the city centre," he said.

"For a long time the Gordon family owned a portion of the site, and I think their aspiration for being able to do a truly remarkable development in the city centre and contribute something of scale as the city grew, and as that aspiration grew, they over time consolidated the rest of that block."

COVID changing cities

The final piece of the puzzle may have finally fallen into place, but it comes at a time when the demand for office space has plunged with so many people working from home during COVID lockdown.

Local architect Andrew Conaher, who is generally supportive of the plan, said with so many people now working from home it may be difficult to attract commercial tenants. 

"We have a new office building partly let on the corner of Victoria Street and Keira Street, and we have a massive one on Lang's Corner [at the bottom of the mall]," he said.

"You've got three points on corners of the CBD with brand new office space in them. Possibly council might take some space in the one on Lang's Corner, but there is going to be a real fight to fill those buildings."

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said council set the planning guidelines for the development and it would be approved at arm's length by an independent planning panel.

Cr Bradbery also said with growing demand on the region to provide affordable housing it would be incumbent on the WIN Corporation to deliver a percentage of equitably priced apartments.

"There are figures that are bandied about, something like 5 per cent [of affordable housing] and those sorts of things, but it is subject to a moving scale and also the appetite of the developer," he said.

The Wollongong-based Housing Trust said it was working on an agreement with council to ensure up to 20 per cent of new homes in the city were able to meet the needs of households on a very low to moderate income.

Housing Trust CEO Michelle Adair said the agreement may not happen in time to influence pricing on the WIN Grand project, due for completion in 2025.

"We know that unless targets are set, particularly for medium to large-scale developments, and the number appears to be at least 20 per cent of those dedicated for at least 20 years for affordable rental housing, then our community continues to go backwards," she said.