Qantas bid triggers Mackay CBD high-rise plans

Developers hope to cash in on potential Qantas facility

SKY IS THE LIMIT: Mayor Greg Williamson, John Glanville of GW3 and Mackay Airport manager Rob Porter have launched their plan to attract a Qantas Pilot Training Academy to the region. Picture: Stuart Quinn

DEVELOPERS are lining up to build CBD high-rises to house the hundreds of pilots that will flood the region in the event the city's pitch for the Qantas Pilot Training Academy base is successful.

The Daily Mercury can exclusively reveal Mackay Regional Council has already received applications from multiple local developers looking to cash in on the potential $20M Qantas project.

Mackay region mayor Greg Williamson was hopeful securing the training academy would trigger a mass of development around CQUniversity's Sydney St campus with an 'enormous' trickle down effect.

"There have been a couple of potential development applications around student accommodation,” Cr Williamson said.

"It would be high-rise, very nice student accommodation. The typical student accommodation of four individual student rooms built around a kitchen and lounge room environment... those are the sorts of things we have seen come by our desk at the moment.

"These developers aren't CQU, they are private developers. At the moment, there is not enough demand but something like this (the academy) would certainly cement that demand.”

In 2016, plans for a $17M, 10-storey building on Sydney St, capable of housing 140 students were approved by MRC. The project has an approved completion date of October 2019.

Cr Williamson said the potential new multi-storey accommodation would form a major part of Mackay's bid for the project.

"What we are offering is a brand new built environment and in my view, that's got to be a big carrot for Qantas, both in the operational training side of it, the academic side of it and in the liveable side of it,” he said.

"This will be part of our successful bid, by being able to demonstrate that we have developers in our community wanting to get on board with this as well.

"We know we have the developers ready to go, we know there is ample opportunity in terms of land space in close proximity to CQU's Sydney St campus and that is the sort of thing we are very excited about.”

A Qantas Pilot Training academy may be coming to Mackay airport. The proposed site for the facility. Picture: Stuart Quinn

Construction of new facilities to accommodate Qantas' requirements would also extend to Mackay Airport, with general manager Rob Porter revealing new hangars would be constructed throughout the western precinct, on the vacant air-side land along Mike Jones St toward Boundary Road East.

"Our master plan does have an aviation precinct that supports general aviation so it falls nicely into our land use plan,” he said.

"There is more than 270ha at Mackay Airport that can be developed and our preference is to develop it for aviation such as training, schools, medical services and the like.”

Originally published as Qantas bid triggers Mackay CBD high-rise plans