Developer to offer 28 blocks in suburb barely touched for 50 years

Modern homes and vacant blocks are hard to come by in this popular bayside suburb, but a local developer is about to change that as construction gets under way on a rare parcel of vacant land.

Fiteni Properties development manager Tom Barker and sales and marketing manager Chris Platt at the site of the new Highridge development at Alexandra Hills. Picture: AAP/Sarah Marshall

Construction has started on a new housing project on one of the few remaining parcels of undeveloped land in Alexandra Hills.

Local developer Fiteni Properties has almost completed site works on the 28-lot subdivision Highridge, on the corner of Finucane and Dawson roads.

It’s been about half a century since this many new homes have been on offer in the suburb, which was one of the fastest-growing areas in what was then known as the Redland Shire when it was developed back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

Some of the new blocks even have views of Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island.

Construction is well under way on the high-profile development site on the corner of Finucane and Dawson roads, Alexandra Hills. Picture: Paula Shearer/Redlands Community News.

Fiteni Properties development manager Tom Barker said the boom back then meant many of the existing homes in Alexandra Hills had now aged.

Despite the prime location – in a central suburb that connects the key Redlands shopping and business hubs of Cleveland and Capalaba – local housing now struggled to meet modern needs.

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It’s also pretty impossible to buy a vacant block to build on.

A suburb search on realestate.com.au revealed just two blocks were now on the market for families to buy and build their dream home.

Mr Barker said Highridge was the last large undeveloped Alexandra Hills site zoned for detached homes.

“It’s the last piece of the puzzle,” he said.

“We identified a strong demand in Alexandra Hills for new homes during the development of our Parklands estate at Babiana St (which was developed in 2018).

Heavy equipment on site at Alexandra Hills as roads are created for the Highridge estate. Picture: Paula Shearer/Redlands Community News.

“Alexandra Hills is a well-established and well-connected suburb, but opportunities for new communities and residential estates are few and far between these days.

“The demand for new housing product has until recently only been met by small infill subdivisions of two to three lots, it is exciting to deliver a more substantial offering and particularly one with such unique site characteristics.”

Mr Barker said that while the steep site presented challenges during design, the end result was spectacular views of the Scribbly Gums Conservation Area – while some blocks would also look out to Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island.

“One of the main attractions of the project was its location, being in proximity to the bay, close to shops and transport, and serviced by a number of great private and public schools,” he said.

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