11 shopfronts stand vacant on Baylis Street, a problem that could be solved by more residential development above where stores stand, Fitzpatricks Real Estate’s Greg Howick has argued. 

Current Wagga City Council regulations allow for residential development above shops that aren’t higher than the current street building height.

GPG Architecture and Design chief architect Gioia Portolan Gianniotis said there was huge demand in Wagga for “urban living” shop-top units, similar to what is available in Sydney and Canberra.

“I think it is a brilliant idea,” she said.

“The whole idea of activating the spaces, I think that is an issue we have at the moment.

“A lot of those tenancies on the main street are moving into the larger complexes that we have like Sturt Mall and Wagga Marketplace.”

Priority should be given to these developments over housing estate developments on the outskirts of Wagga.

“At the moment we are doing a lot of urban sprawl where we keep sprawling outward and we have a lot of potential in town and in the city,” Ms Portolan Gianniotis said. 

Icono Building Design director Rod McMullen  also agreed there was demand for shop-top development.

“Certainly it is happening in other cities,” he said.

“Defintiely there is a demand for it in Wagga and it makes sense to be within the CBD.”

But these types of development needed to consider that extra parking spaces were often necessary.

“Because there are so many blocks fully developed with buildings there is nowhere left for parking,” he said. “Or the ones that do have room to expand, the carparking requirement is quite onerous.”

A Wagga Council spokesperson said a new shop-top housing development was recently approved and it is currently considering another similar development.