The family company of mining magnate Andrew Forrest has been nominated to deliver a 72-apartment project in Karratha.
Lands Minister Brendon Grylls announced yesterday Minderoo Pty Ltd was the preferred proponent to develop Lot 403 at LandCorp's Baynton West estate in Karratha, under the Pilbara Cities initiative.
Minderoo will develop up to 72 apartments on the 9,163 square metre site.
Mr Grylls said in a statement the project would provide a much-needed wider choice of housing options in Karratha.
LandCorp plans to release an additional 450 lots in Baynton this year, on top of 350 lots already sold in the suburb.
Minderoo has some contentious history in the state's North West, as the firm was accused of breaching a housing lots agreement with LandCorp in March last year.
Twenty-five lots at Pretty Pool, a near waterfront location in Port Hedland, were sold to Minderoo for between $165,000 and $240,000 in 2006.
According to LandCorp, the lots were sold specifically for the purpose of providing housing for mine workers employed by Mr Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, but by the time development got under way, the global recession meant FMG no longer needed the houses.
The development conditions required Minderoo to build within 30 months of settlement and prevented the on-sale of lots prior to this condition being met.
Ten of the 25 lots were advertised to the public as housing and land packages for up to $1.25 million in March last year.
After widespread criticism, Mr Forrest announced proceeds from the sale would be donated to victims of the Victorian bushfires.
But at the end of June last year, Mr Forrest proposed the Town of Port Hedland buy 10 of the 25 lots for a "cost price" of $8 million, with the profits from the sale to go to a charitable trust with four directors - Mr Forrest, his wife, Nicola, and two Port Hedland councillors.
