Consortium Plots Redbank Plains Affordable Housing

A consortium has filed plans for an affordable housing development west of Brisbane.

Pacific Mt Gravatt Pty Ltd, associated with directors Ismail and Muhammad Jangda and wholly owned by Pacific Developments, has partnered with the National Affordable Housing Consortium Ltd to deliver and manage the project in the Ipswich suburb of Redbank Plains.

It is seeking Ministerial Designation for community infrastructure to establish the development of a “high-quality apartment building”.

The 3396sq m site at 7002 Junction Drive, Redbank Plains, falls under the jurisdiction of Ipswich council. 

The consortium is planning a four-storey affordable block, offering “critical accommodation in a key location within the forecasted Ipswich to Springfield public transport corridor”.

It will deliver 60 units, comprising 18 studio, 24 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom apartments. 

Each will have private balconies, access to communal spaces, as well as bike and carparking. 

According to the development application from Wolter Consulting Group, it will form part of a broader residential development under the control of Pacific Mt Gravatt. 

The site, which is now vacant, is close to a shopping centre anchored by Woolworths, a future community centre and “ideally located” near the $2.5-billion Ipswich to Springfield Public Transport Corridor, including a planned train station just to the south. 

It “presents an opportunity to provide essential accommodation in a well-serviced location”, according to the application.

According to the Queensland Government, the Ipswich Local Government Area is projected to have some of the highest population growth in the state, expected to double to 100,000 new homes by 2041. 

Many of those would be located in the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area and surrounding areas, it said, necessitating better transport links to the wider region.

Affordable housing has been on the agenda recently and another project has been submitted to the Ministerial Infrastructure Designation [MID] portal—which is becoming a preferred option for planners—in the past week, a 17-storey tower in Southport supported by the Housing Infrastructure Fund.