New multimillion-dollar unit complex announced for Toowoomba suburb
In less than a year, 14 modern units will be added to the Darling Downs’ struggling housing market. Here’s where they will be built, and what they will look like.
Development
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The state government has bought 1,839sq m of land at Newtown with the hope of adding 14 units to Toowoomba’s struggling housing market by August 2024.
Queensland’s Department of Energy and Public Works, QBuild, plans to build the one-bedroom social housing units at 8 Swallow Court, Newtown.
The state’s multimillion-dollar contract was awarded to Hutchinson Builders, however before work begins, a three-bedroom wood and brick home will need to be demolished.
The tightly packed units will share a fence line with a separate 12 unit complex, which according to CoreLogic data, was listed for sale for $2,540,000, in May 2023.
That land next door at 6 Swallow Court last sold for $410,000 in 2014, up from $60,000 in 2001, and $55,000 in 1995.
The new lot where the state is building the complex was listed for sale in 2015 for $427,500, and sold for $400,000 in April 2021 – up from $375,000 in 2015.
The construction project will be the eighth multi-dwelling complex within the 24 lot block of residential houses, which backs onto the Black Gully Reserve, bordered by Bridge St, Holberton St, and Swallow Court.
A dozen blocks away from the new project, the state government recently announced they were building 13 one-bedroom apartments at Hursley Rd Newtown, after awarding McNab Construction with the $7m tender.
As the housing crisis pushes more families into regional areas, and developers and governments aiming for quantity over space, lot sizes continue to shrink changing the way Australians live.
In July the auditor-general’s annual report into the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy’s provision of social housing, found about 75 per cent of the 1000 people currently waiting for social housing in the Darling Downs were considered “high need”.
As of September 2023, more than 200 social housing dwellings were planned for Toowoomba, which includes a multi-story unit complex in the CBD on Mylne St.
Work on the latest project at Swallow Court will begin on September 4, as demolition workers begin to prepare the lot for development.
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