October 31 2007

Laing O'Rourke has purchased a development site in the heart of Townsville's waterfront precinct.

The 2619m² property in Palmer Street, Townsville is a prime piece of real estate which overlooks the Boat Club Marina, is in walking distance of Townsville's CBD and has water views to Magnetic Island.

Development Manager Pat Kenny said the proposed development was to build a 12-storey building with two levels of basement carparking.

"The ground floor will contain restaurant facilities incorporating open air dining at street level, pool and outdoor entertainment area," Pat said.

There will be 146 apartments with high quality finishes, aimed at maximising the views to Magnetic Island.

The Palmer Street development heralds the start of a concerted move by Laing O'Rourke into the North Queensland property market.

"Townsville is reported to be one of the fastest growing property markets in Australia," Pat said. "It benefits from being the centre of government administration in North Queensland, has the expanding Lavarack Barracks on its doorstep and is an attractive centre for workers and their families involved in the rapidly growing mining industry."

"We are now completing our development team which will have a strong focus on locally based consultants and will closely involve our North Queensland team," Pat said.

"All our work so far points to this being a very exciting project that will bring together the talents of many people in the company."