Above: A 10,000 apartment project is planned for Greater Springfield, renders courtesy of Springfield Land Corporation.
The developer behind Queensland’s emerging city, Greater Springfield, has expressed interest in constructing a $6 billion medium density apartment project in the City Centre North.
Springfield Land Corporation has announced they are seeking expressions of interest from development and capital partners in order to make the anticipated 10,000 apartment complex a reality. Designed by Woods Bagot and Place Design Group, the City Centre North apartment project is planned to also include commercial and retail space.
Greater Springfield is around 30km south of Brisbane and is one of Australia’s fastest growing new cities. It was developed as an alternative to the Brisbane CBD, and since being founded 22 years ago is already home to over 30,000 people – expected to swell to 86,000 by 2030, according to Springfield Land Corporation. Currently, Launceston in Tasmania is home to around 75,000 people.
The City Centre North apartment project is claimed to be the next step for Greater Springfield, which already has public transport access, a private hospital and Cancer Care Centre, a university, 10 private and public schools, and 11 child care centres.
With roughly $600 million in construction expenditure per annum, much is being invested into development of the projected new city. The starting point of what could be similar developments are set to begin in Melbourne’s Box Hill – where a 36 level skyscraper designed by Peddle Thorpe Architects was last year claimed to be the beginning of a “second city within Melbourne”. The mixed-use tower will be the largest ever development outside of the inner city of Melbourne and is planned for completion in 2017. Whether the City Centre North apartment project will go ahead is up to potential developers and partners, but either way, it seems the movement toward new Australian cities has begun.