What currently resembles a bog will one day be home to almost 70,000 people.
The foundations of Waraba, a new city west of Caboolture in southeast Queensland, are being laid with a massive and muddy earth-moving effort ahead of construction of its first neighbourhood, called Lilywood Landings.
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“We’re seeing earthworks, retaining walls, all the water and sewer infrastructure construction to service not just Lilywood, but the other developments as well,” Ian Worthington from developer Lennium Group told 7NEWS.
“It is a substantial undertaking we’ve got going here.”
Lilywood will include 228 residential lots, as well as a childcare centre and a service station, according to Worthington.
The developer has received more than 1000 registrations of interest from buyers.
Worthington believes the starting price of $280,000 for a 315sqm plot, “which gets you your four bedroom, two-bathroom house”, is what will attract buyers to the region.
He said residents could move in by mid-2025, “all things going to plan and the weather being kind to us”.
About 30,000 homes for about 68,000 people are expected to be built in Waraba over the next four decades.
That’ll make Waraba about as big as established cities such as Coffs Harbour and Bundaberg.
“It’s more than a decade in the making and many, many years of hard work,” said Worthington.
“So it is exciting to have construction underway.”