TULMUR Place has been recognised as the country’s Best Public Building or Social Infrastructure at the Property Council of Australia’s Innovation & Excellence Awards.
Tulmur Place took out the award in a field of 15 finalists, beating high-profile developments including the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment, Western Sydney Conference Centre, south-western Sydney’s Liverpool Civic Place and the Art Gallery of New South Wales Naala Badu art museum.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said Tulmur Place stood as a “symbol of what Ipswich could achieve when its people were put first”.
“Once a run-down and neglected city centre, the Nicholas Street
Precinct’s transformation has delivered a city heart the people of Ipswich so greatly deserve,” Cr Harding said.
The redevelopment, which was delivered by the interim administration and the current Council following seven years of stalled plans, started with a coup from the former Pisasale Administration which purchased Ipswich City Square in 2009 from Memo Corp for $45 million under a loan from the State Government in a bid to revitalise the city centre.
The former council then progressed plans in 2016, announcing a bold bid to move the Ipswich Central Library and the council administration operations in South Street to a new council building in Nicholas St, bringing its workforce into the heart of the city.
The former council engaged epc.Pacific as developers of the new council administration building in 2017 and started demolition, including the removal of the Woolworths building at the end of the Ipswich Mall with the goal of embracing the Bremer River as a focus of the redevelopment.
The State Government dismissed the council in 2018 within months of the council cancelling the development contract with epc.Pacific and appointed an interim administrator who restarted the development.
Cr Harding said the major brands moving in to the Nicholas Street Precinct showed the retail sector had put its faith in the precinct and created a dining and entertainment destination.
“During August, the precinct received over 298,868 visitations which is up 12 per cent from July 2025 and a 190 per cent increase when compared to August 2024,” Cr Harding said.
“To be recognised on a national stage at the Property Council of Australia’s Innovation and Excellence Awards, against some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country, is a powerful affirmation of Ipswich’s journey over the past five years.”
This year the Nicholas Street Precinct has also been awarded the Development of the Year – Urban Regeneration at the 2025 Urban Developer Awards, 2025 Housing and Construction Awards – Regional Winner and Gold at the 2025 Australian Design Awards.
