Providence development ready to go - and take the tradies

IF YOU have trouble tracking down a tradie this year, chances are you’ll have Providence to blame.

IF YOU have trouble tracking down a tradie this year, chances are you'll have Providence to blame.

Developers of the 7000-home community in the Ripley Valley say if people plan to build or renovate their home, they should get in quick.

Amex Corporation, which is developing the 670-hectare master-planned community, say they are hitting the go button on housing construction this month.

Providence project director Michael Khan said construction on up to 300 homes is expected to start during the next 12 months.

That's on top of millions of dollars' worth of construction on parklands, road networks, playgrounds and a neighbourhood centre.

"At our peak this year, we're expecting more than a thousand workers at any one time to be actively building on site," Mr Khan said.

"Right now, construction has just started on a 24-home display village and work will soon begin on the homes of our first residents.

"Within six months of launching, independent data showed Providence was one of the top 10 fastest selling projects in the country, with sales of more than one block of land every day.

"Fast forward that to 2015, and we're expecting housing construction to be almost as fast.

Mr Khan said the start of housing construction would be a windfall for local builders, and create hundreds of jobs for locals.

"The building industry has believed in us from the very beginning, with land in the display village completely selling out on the day of release to the builders," he said.

Amex says Providence will be developed over the next 20 years and eventually house up to 20,000 people.

It will also include two primary and two secondary schools, a health and wellbeing precinct and 200 hectares of retained bushland and landscaped open space.

Over the next 25 years, the Ripley Valley is projected to accommodate 10 per cent of south-east Queensland's population growth, with a projected population of 120,000 people and significant employment opportunities for the western corridor.

Amex Corporation is an Australian family-owned residential development company that has been operating in Queensland for 25 years. It has developed 14 communities across Australia similar to Providence.