Construction starts on Milton Precinct near Mackay Airport
Construction has kicked off on a huge new commercial and retail business precinct right by the Mackay Airport which promises hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in new income for the region.
Mackay
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Construction has officially started on a brand new commercial precinct that will bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the region.
The Mackay Airport Milton St precinct project is now underway, the 23ha vacant lot buzzing with construction activity.
Mackay Airport CEO Richard Barker said the new development reflected the real opportunities Mackay represented for development.
“Our passenger numbers are already back to where they were before Covid,” Mr Barker said.
“With recent investment in the Finch Hatton Mountain Bike park and our gateway to the lower Barrier Reef … we’re confident tourism will continue to grow.”
“Some of those may well have two or three different retailers,” Mr Barker said.
“There will be a combination of businesses, not only retail but also industrial and service businesses.”
With the first stage of construction costing almost $10 million and expected to finish in 2025, Mackay Airport head of operations Adrian Miles said that they’re already accepting expressions of interests from developers and are particularly interested in the needs of workers seeking short term accommodation.
“There’s a shortage of short term accommodation,” Mr Miles said.
“There’s a variety of FIFO workers, government employees and other businesses who need that sort of accommodation.”
The first tenancies in the precinct are expected to open in 2026 with development continuing until 2028.
“We’ll build the initial stages to meet demand,” Mr Barker said.
“We’ve had a lot of interest early on.”
The construction phase of 2024 to 2028 is expected to support 200 jobs while the finished precinct is expected to support 280 jobs and provide an additional $131.1 million to the local economy in the first 10 years of operation.
“This has been many years in the making and the planning,” Mr Miles said.
“The opportunities are here for the taking.
Mackay builders Vassallo Construction have been engaged to deliver the first stages of construction and have promised that work will occur only during daylight hours and that access to the airport will not be impacted.
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