Mirvac hopes to transform fly-in, fly-out Karratha, in the Pilbara, into a city

Property development group Mirvac has been has awarded preferred tenderer status for the transformation of the Western Australian mining town Karratha, in the Pilbara, into a city of 50,000 residents.

The $1.5 billion project involves the development of 1.5 hectares in the town’s centre, plus a 168-hectare, 1500-lot residential estate that will link Karratha to the coast. There are currently fewer than 15,000 people in Karratha district.

The government will put about $130 million of Royalties for Regions cash into building new roads and infrastructure.

The first stage – expected to be completed in mid-2014 – will include a 150-room hotel, 10,000 square metres of commercial space, 50 service worker apartments and new public space.

The residential development, a new coastal suburb to be named Mulataga, will commence construction in early 2013, with the first land released early in 2014.

While it was easier to build a donga temporary camp than to build a community, WA Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls says the government’s aim is to create genuine regional communities alongside the state’s huge resource developments

Premier Colin Barnett says the government wants to see fly-in, fly-out work practices fall over time and developments like this would help encourage people employed in the resources industry to choose to live where they worked.

The annual general meeting was told the predicted underlying demand for new dwellings in Karratha by 2016 was between 2,000 and 3,000 dwellings.

In order to meet this demand, Mirvac expect rabout 600 to 800 new dwellings will need to be provided over each of the next four years.