Walker’s $500m Gladstone estate under way
Article by Michelle Singer, Australian Financial Review – Posted 15th Sep 2011
Work in a $500 million master-planned estate in Gladstone has begun, as Walker Corporation and joint-venture partner Eureka Funds Management aim to cash in on the region’s mining boom.
Gladstone Regional Council forecasts 10,000 more residents will need housing by 2016, when $60 billion worth of liquefied natural gas and infrastructure projects are in full swing.
The Forest Springs master-planned estate is approved for 900 dwellings for about 3000 residents.
Walker Corp chairman Lang Walker said the project would tap into a growth region and help alleviate the housing shortage.
“We see strong demand coming from workers moving into the area and investors and existing residents upgrading to a higher-quality, freestanding home and medium-density dwellings,” he said.
“There are only four to five subdivisions in the centre of Gladstone that are suitable for workers. They’re already running out of stock and I’d say they’ll have run out by Christmas.”
Walker Corporation has 30,000 residential lots in the pipeline nationally, including in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. It is one of several capital city developers that have sought out land in Gladstone, along with companies such as Devine and Citimark, to provide housing for investors and mining employees and their families.
Gladstone Regional Council figures show more than 600 residential properties were approved in the 12 months to June – the highest figure in 15 years. The region’s market has outperformed the rest of Australia and is growing in value at more than 10 per cent a year, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland. Its rental vacancy rate is less than 1 per cent.
Work has commenced on the Walker project in Kirkwood Road, which adjoins a Woolworths shopping centre. Stage one will consist of 110 lots and be released in October, and first settlements are due in April 2012.