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New Melanka development for Alice Springs



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New Melanka development for Alice Springs


It will be called the Melankas and it will be situated on the old Melanka Lodge site in the centre of Alice Springs, but the $60 million development will look nothing like its predecessor. It will include retail and commercial space at street level, as well as 116 units, some in five-storey buildings featuring many renewable energy features. The development will go a long way towards alleviating the housing and rental shortage in the Central Australian town. Building is due to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

The design includes five buildings covering about 40 per cent of the site, allowing for plenty of space in between. “There’s reasonable open space between the buildings providing leisure nodes including pool and barbecue facilities,” says James Forbes from Blueprint Architects in Brisbane, acting for the developer, Eden Properties. “Also, it allows all the units to get reasonable northerly aspect, which gives most of the apartments northern sunlight so there’s not a great heat-load flowing into the house. They will have large balconies that face the north as well.”

The Northern Territory Planning Minister has given conditional approval to build the project of 116 units, many of which will be sold for short stay accommodation. “The proposal states that all the accommodation can be bought, but then about 30 per cent will go back into a ‘letting pool’ for short term accommodation,” explains Forbes. “The 30 per cent is designed for weekly stays or three-night stays whereas the remainder of the accommodation will be for longer term rental or people actually owning and living there.”

The Melankas’ developer is the Queensland-based Eden Properties, a group that owns and built the Gilligan’s Backpackers Hotel and Resort in Cairns. They also own sites in Airlie Beach and Hervey Bay in Queensland, and Broome in Western Australia. Forbes was the principal architect on the Gilligan’s project and has been associated with the developer for over a decade.



Renewable energy sources will play a strong role in the new Melankas. Electric power will be supplemented by a solar photovoltaic system with solar hot water throughout, along with natural ventilation into the units, and rainwater harvesting for limited use in landscaping and toilet water. The development is within walking distance to the Alice Springs Mall and all CBD amenities.

Fast Facts: The Territory economy

Economic growth


  • In the 2010-11 Budget papers, the Northern Territory Treasury estimates economic growth in the Territory will moderate to 0.4% in 2009-10 mainly due to the completion of a number of major projects in the mining sector. Economic growth in 2009-10 has been underpinned by a widening international trade surplus and record levels of public investment.

  • In 2010-11, strengthening household consumption expenditure, record levels of public investment and a further widening in the trade surplus are forecast to be the major contributing factors to the economy growing by 3.6%.

GSP

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10e

2010-11f

% Change

6.7

3.9

2.6

0.1

4.8




  • Final Demand, a measure of the demand for goods and services in the economy, decreased by 2.2%, compared to an increase of 1.6% nationally. The decline in the Territory reflects the completion of a number of major projects in the mining sector such as the GEMCO refinery expansion on Groote Eylandt, ENI’s Blacktip project and development activity for the Montara oil field in the Timor Sea.

  • Public and private consumption expenditure rose by 1.7% to $12.5 billion, while total investment expenditure decreased by 9.8% to $5.6 billion.

  • In 2009, inflation adjusted construction work done in the Territory increased by 3% to $2.9 billion.

  • In the year to March 2010, the number of residential building approvals in the Territory increased by 38.5% to 1235. The increase was driven by strong growth in private and public housing approvals, up by 30.4% and 128.4% respectively.

Employment


  • In the year to April 2010, resident employment in the Territory increased by 4% to 119,263. This was the highest employment growth rate in Australia.

  • In April 2010, the trend unemployment rate in the Territory remained at 3.2%, the lowest rate of the jurisdictions and substantially below the national rate of 5.3%.

  • In April 2010, the trend labour force participation rate declined to 72.4%, but remained the second highest rate of the jurisdictions and substantially above the national rate of 65.2%.

  • The ANZ Bank Job Advertisement Series reports that the number of job vacancies in the Territory, in seasonally adjusted terms, increased by 61.4% from April 2009 to April 2010, while nationally they increased by 17.6% over this period.

Population


  • As at 30 September 2009, the Northern Territory’s population was estimated to be 227 025.

  • The annual rate of population growth was estimated to be 2.3%, the third highest growth rate of the jurisdictions and slightly above the national growth rate of 2.1%.

Inflation


  • In annual terms, growth in Darwin’s Consumer Price Index strengthened to 3.5% in the March quarter 2010. Nationally, the annual inflation rate strengthened to 2.9%.

Average weekly earnings


  • In 2009, Average Weekly Earnings for full-time adult employees in the Territory increased by 3.8% to $1211. Nationally, it increased by 5.1% to $1246.

  • Over the same period, the Territory’s Wage Price Index increased by 4%, compared to 3.5% nationally.

International trade


  • In the year to March 2010, Territory goods exports decreased by 24.9% to $4.9 billion, driven by falling commodity prices especially for key exports such as liquid natural gas (LNG), manganese, alumina and zinc-lead concentrate. Goods imports decreased by 27.6% to $3.1 billion, due to a decrease in the value of petroleum imports from Singapore and feedstock gas imports for the ConocoPhillips Wickham Point LNG plant. This has resulted in a trade surplus of $1.8 billion.

Retail trade and motor vehicle sales


  • In the year to March 2010, inflation adjusted retail trade turnover increased by 3.5% in the Territory, the fourth highest growth rate of the jurisdictions and compared to a 3.4% increase nationally.

  • In the year to March 2010, sales of new motor vehicles in the Territory decreased by 4.3% to 9535, mainly due to decreases in ‘other’ (trucks, utes and vans) vehicles and sports utility vehicles sales. Nationally, new motor vehicle sales increased by 1.5% to 976 185 over this period.


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