Sunshine Coast: New Hospital Beds, CBD Cranes, Rental Crackdown Transform Region

The Sunshine Coast packed a week's worth of decisions and deadlines into the first days of July, with construction milestones in the new Maroochydore CBD, a fresh funding announcement tied to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital expansion, and growing pressure on holiday-let landlords all landing within 72 hours of each other.

The timing matters. Council is finalising its 2026-27 budget cycle, and with the region's resident population now topping 380,000, up roughly 12 percent since the 2021 census, every infrastructure and housing call carries more political weight than it did just five years ago. Saturday's national headlines about Sydney recording its hottest June in 167 years were a reminder that coastal Queensland is not insulated from the climate pressures reshaping Australian cities, and the Coast's own emergency-management planners have taken note.

CBD Construction and Hospital Expansion

The most visible news this week came out of Maroochydore, where the private developer behind the 20-hectare Maroochydore City Centre project confirmed that the mixed-use tower at Ocean Street, the fourth building to top out in the precinct, reached its structural roof level on Thursday. The SunCentral-managed development now has three buildings occupied and two more under construction simultaneously, with retail tenancies on the ground floor of the Ocean Street tower scheduled to open before Christmas 2026.

Simultaneously, Sunshine Coast University Hospital at Birtinya confirmed this week that the state government's $1.8 billion expansion program, announced in the 2025-26 Queensland Budget, is tracking on schedule. The expansion will add 190 beds to the facility and open a dedicated cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Stage one construction documents went to tender in late June, with contracts expected to be awarded by September. The hospital currently operates 738 beds and is the region's largest single employer, with more than 4,500 staff.

Just down Kawana Way, the Birtinya health precinct is also absorbing a new allied health hub, a private facility targeting physiotherapy, mental health and specialist outpatient services, that lodged its development application with Sunshine Coast Council on June 30. If approved, it would sit on a 3,200-square-metre parcel adjacent to the existing hospital car park.

Short-Term Rentals Under the Microscope

The other story dominating local discussion this week is short-term rental regulation. Sunshine Coast Council's planning committee met on Wednesday to review submissions received during the public consultation period for its proposed Short-Term Rental Accommodation Local Law, which closed on June 27 with more than 1,100 responses lodged, the highest volume the council has recorded for a planning consultation in at least three years.

The proposed law would require all properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz within the council area to register annually, at a cost of $350 per dwelling, and would impose a 180-night annual cap on unhosted rentals in residential zones. Noosa Shire introduced similar restrictions in 2023, and early data from that council suggested its scheme removed approximately 340 properties from full-time short-term letting within 12 months. Sunshine Coast has an estimated 6,200 active short-term rental listings, concentrated heavily in Caloundra, Mooloolaba and Coolum Beach.

Landlords packed the Caloundra chamber of commerce's July 2 information session, while housing advocates from community group Shelter Sunshine Coast argued the 180-night cap does not go far enough given median weekly rents in the region now sit at $680 for a three-bedroom house, according to the June 2026 SQM Research data.

Council is expected to table a final draft of the local law at its ordinary meeting on July 23. If passed, registration would open from September 1 and become mandatory from January 1, 2027. Property owners who have not registered by that date face fines starting at $2,750 per offence under the proposed schedule.

For residents watching the CBD go up and the rental rules take shape, the practical next step is clear: the July 23 council meeting at Nambour will be open to the public, and written submissions to the short-term rental draft law remain open until July 16 through the council's Have Your Say portal at council.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.