Wollongong is truly a coastal city, laying claim to some of the best beaches in Australia. North Wollongong Beach is arguably the city’s best loved and most frequented, acting as a hub for locals and tourists alike, as well as a growing hospitality base. Synonymous with the beach is North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club, which is one of the oldest in Australia, and the building a regional landmark.
With the long-awaited substantial upgrade works to the building and immediate surrounds by Wollongong City Council, an opportunity emerged to create a designated restaurant to Level 1, above the club itself. This enabled the Club to pursue what would be a first for the region, a Queensland style surf club; a focal point of the community intertwined with a large hospitality venue right on the beach. The benefits for all were simple: a showcase for tourism and hospitality, strengthening of a community hub, and an income source that would enable the club to become self-sufficient in order to provide an even better community service and appeal to its volunteer members. This was a project that was eagerly watched many, including other local surf clubs keen to see success in order to bolster their own similar, yet less grand ambitions.
In a process that has taken over four years to come to fruition, MMJ’s own Michael Croghan has been working directly alongside the club’s executive team, providing substantial advice every step of the way, right from the beginning including initial concepts, through to the imminent opening by the chosen operator. Michael’s involvement has spanned the town planning process, project marketing, confidentiality agreements, substantial bureaucratic hurdles, and finally to the successful negotiation of commercial terms and finalisation of legals. This contribution has been significantly more than acting as a leasing agent. The process has been exhaustive and his role crucial.
MMJ are a Wollongong success story, having first established in the Illawarra over 60 years ago, expanding to four offices in the region, and more recently commercial offices in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Canberra. MMJ are staunch advocates of the Illawarra and are proud to have been a part of a truly transformative community project that this represents. We are honoured to have partnered with the North Wollongong Surf Club throughout and congratulate them on the upcoming opening by the chosen operator. We have no doubt this will be a milestone in the history of the club and presents for a very exciting future. We wish the club every success.