[+] Mackay Waterfront in $300m ‘Venice of the North’ Transformation

A Central Queensland mining town is planning to lure developers to its untapped waterfront with a $300-million masterplan to build a destination, emulating the transformative Howard Smith Wharves project in Brisbane. But with gondolas. The Mackay Regional Council has just closed a tender process for gondolas to take tours on the river to showcase the town and its shipwreck history. A Venice-based gondola service is reportedly in the mix as part of the opportunity. Development consortium ReNew Mackay, headed by Woollam Construction’s managing director Craig Percival, will lead the Waterfront Priority Development Area renewal with the development of six city blocks. The consortium emerged as the sole contender for the project after initial interest from multiple groups including Sentinel Group, which has significant holdings across the region. Planning changes to lure apartment developers Developer concessions aimed at encouraging housing diversity and tourism opportunities have been extended in the Mackay Regional Council’s planning policies, which mayor Greg Williamson says will lure developers to the waterfront area. The council has expanded its Facilitating Development in the Mackay Region policy to provide more incentives for developers looking to develop mixed-use residential towers. Williamson says the policy will promote the waterfront redevelopment and drive a tourism focus in the area with the inclusion of the proposed gondola service on the river. “I’m very confident this will be absolutely revitalising to the waterfront and inner-city Mackay,” Williamson says. “Although Mackay has seen increased demand for housing, the majority of this has been for detached dwellings with units not seeing similar increases in demand. “Most other comparable local governments offer some form of incentives for development. There is competition among local governments for investment and it is an important consideration.” ▲ Mackay's buoyant economy could help revitalise the town's heart with multi-million-dollar projects slated for the city. Williamson says fringe suburb house-and-land releases continue to be attractive to homebuyers across the region. “Even though there’s been a surge in demand for housing it’s all been in the suburbs,” he says. “A 25 per cent infrastructure charges reduction wasn’t enough to attract the developments that we were looking for in the inner-city area. We tweaked the policy to try to capture that market. We want to promote alternative housing types and affordable housing. “To promote the development of alternative housing types and increase the potential viability, the revised policy increases the reduction in infrastructure charges from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. “We want housing that will attract millennials that don’t particularly want a big shed for their boat and a house.” Williamson says ReNew Mackay put forward a compelling plan for the waterfront blocks, which would encourage other developers to invest in the buoyant mining town. ▲ Mackay’s marina: the central Queensland city’s potential is being seriously explored. Dilapidated waterfront sheds have been demolished and work has begun on rejuvenating the area with a $5-million federal government grant for the public realm. “Shovels are in the ground, we’ll probably spend about $5 million on the riverfront—it’s an opportunity to interact with the riverfront in a way they haven’t been able to for more than 100 years,” he says. The disused waterfront area is in dire need of an overhaul, but Sentinel Property Group chief executive Warren Ebert says developing the city centre is “too hard”. CBD throws up ‘too many hurdles‘ Ebert has a long-standing interest in the fate of Mackay, dating back to the early 1990s with a property portfolio including large format retail and interests in the booming industrial area of Paget. In 2005 he demolished the old Mater and built the Sydney Street Market. But Ebert says the city centre is off the table. “When I started Sentinel the third property I bought was the cinemas in North Mackay,” Ebert says. “Mackay is not well understood … [but] it has been very good to us. It’s a very solid economy. Even when things are bad in Mackay they’re still pretty good.” Ebert says while investing in Mackay was sound, developing in the town provides “too many hurdles” with planning delays costing time and money. “They just keep coming up with visions—you’ve got to execute,” he says. “We will keep investing there but as far as developing in the city goes, I don’t think we would ever look at it again. “The problem we have in Mackay is people are too wealthy. They can sit on empty assets and construction costs in Mackay are horrendous.” Investment key to tourism boost Rental vacancies are down at 0.6 per cent and there are more than 1500 job vacancies in the mining services industry in town. It’s a regional town that has weathered financial downturns, mining booms and flooding. But the waterfront is not the only area attracting investment. ▲ A $25-million revamp of the Great Barrier Reef Arena will be a drawcard for international cricket matches. Work on a pilot biocommodities project is under way to turn sugar cane waste into renewable chemicals, diesel and jet fuel. Mercurius’ pilot plant at QUT’s Biocommodties Facility in Mackay could take Queensland closer to unlocking a $1-billion sustainable export industry. QUT Centre for Agricultural and Bioeconomy project lead Dr Darryn Rackemann says the pilot project is developing “transformative technology”. “QUT will be looking into the commercial opportunities from the technology which could lead to producing renewable fuels and chemicals in Queensland, creating new jobs and opportunities for regional communities,” Rackemann says. A $25-million overhaul of the Harrup Park Great Barrier Reef Arena will put Mackay in the box seat for attracting international cricket matches, according to Mackay Cricket chairman Terry Doolan. “For me, getting big games of cricket or AFL here is important for the community, for young kids coming up—they want to be like their heroes,” Doolan says. Work began last year on the revamp of the stadium and a new media centre, which are due for completion in December 2022. It also includes an events space and green, named after the late long-serving MP Tim Mulherin, and an eat street market style offering. Planning for the second stage of the redevelopment is under way to develop a high-performance sports centre. “It’s for all sports, netball, basketball, hockey and sporting wheelies. At the moment netball does not have an indoor facility, and part of the building would be an indoor area,” Doolan says. “We’re pitching for funding at the moment.” But getting local labour is difficult in the town because trades will often flow to the bigger money of the mining sector. While there is a nationwide trades shortage , this regional town is feeling it even moreso, with some developers and construction firms having to fly in tradies for projects. 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Construction
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Fri 01 Apr 22

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