Property player Megara Developments will build eight apartments for the Town of Port Hedland in exchange for the right to sell house-and-land packages at South Hedland’s Catamore Court estate.
Megara said the principle behind the transaction was that sales of the residential lots at Catamore Court would fund the construction of the apartments by Megara’s building division.
The deal is the first-ever cashless transaction between the town and a developer.
Megara director Matthew Pickford said the company expected to sell all 11 of the remaining lots over the next few weeks, with the land sales providing the funds to facilitate construction of the apartments project.
Around 80 per cent of the Catamore Court estate has been sold since marketing started in October last year, Mr Pickford said.
The Town of Port Hedland will use the apartments for its own staff.
“The business model is particularly positive as it directly helps the town retain staff through providing housing for them, therefore benefiting the Port Hedland community as a whole,” Mr Pickford said.
Town of Port Hedland Mayor Kelly Howlett said the company was pleased to collaborate with Megara to provide affordable housing for its staff.
“The project will also contribute to the normalisation of the local housing market, which is one of the town’s strategic goals,” Ms Howlett said in a statement.
Megara builds about 100 homes each year in the north-west, and has recently launched its first project in Onslow, the $11 million Twenty 7 Second apartment complex in the town centre.
The company was established in 2007, and is aiming to replicate its Pilbara success in the Perth market.
Its first projects will be medium-density housing in Belmont and Doubleview.
