Houses cheap as chips? Almost... | Emerald News | Local News in Emerald

CHEAPER THAN MOST?: An artists impression of a new housing project which if approved will have three-bedroom highset houses ranging in price from $348,000 to $365,000.

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A BRISBANE developer is in the final throes of council approval for a $13 million affordable housing project in Emerald.

Consortium Capital Projects managing director Alistair Bell said the company proposed 44 three-bedroom, two-bathroom highset townhouses on its 1.53 hectare site in Roberts Street; ranging in price from $348,000 to $365,000.

“Our intention is to attract the lower end of the market and still have a unique, workable project that appeals to most people who can afford it rather than spend $400-500,000 they can't afford on a property they don't necessarily need,” Mr Bell told the Central Queensland News.

“A new property on the market with three bedrooms and good finishes and features for that sort of money, in my mind, is affordable.

“What we're doing is consistent with what is already in the area, but not going over the top.”

The gated community will feature an entertainment, pool and barbecue area.

Mr Bell said the project was designed to alleviate Emerald's affordable housing shortfall identified after CCP completed another smaller project in the town.

The signs for future growth in the area, driven by coal mining but hedged by long-standing agricultural and service industries, gave the company the confidence to invest, he added.

“Emerald is exciting,” Mr Bell said.

“Emerald is very strong in the sense it's got the mining industry surrounding it, but it's a community with stability because of cotton and citrus as well.

“So with a number of different industries, an investor like myself is happy to go up that way because the Bowen Basin is going to be very strong for our economy for a long time to come yet.

“The move to stick by Central Queensland rather than follow industry colleagues down the south-east Queensland investment path has been a good decision for us.”

Mr Bell said a development application was lodged with the Central Highlands Regional Council late last year.

The company hopes to begin construction on the townhouses in June, with a completion date of mid-2011 at the latest. The CHRC is pressing ahead with its own affordable housing project, on land fronting Pilot Farm Road and the Gregory Highway.