Woodside Energy is planning to build 30 new homes in Karratha to house its workers as industrial construction projects ramp up.
Woodside Energy is planning to build 30 new homes in Karratha to house its workers as industrial construction projects ramp up.
The company is working with DevelopmentWA to purchase 26 new lots at Madigan Estate and has put a tender out to local companies to undertake the builds.
With prices in the estate varying from $97,000 to $116,000, it would put Woodside’s investment at about $2.6 million for the lots alone.
The new lots are not in the subdivision announced last month by the state government.
A Woodside spokesman said the lots would add to existing new builds in Karratha.
“Woodside recently released an invitation to tender to a number of locally based builders for the construction of thirty homes in Karratha, he said.
“These houses are in addition to the twenty currently under construction by Karratha Housing, a subsidiary of Yurra Pty Ltd, which will be built and leased back to Woodside under a long-term agreement.”
Yurra is a prominent local builder founded by Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Michael Woodley and current Yurra managing director Liam Wilson.
Proceeds flow into traditional owner investment vehicle Yindjibarndi Wealth.
Woodside is in the midst of its $12.5 billion Pluto train two and Scarborough gas field development, which is due to come online in 2026.
The Perth-headquartered firm and Rio Tinto each hold substantial property portfolios in Karratha.
About three-quarters of Woodside’s Burrup operations workforce was residential at the end of 2023.
In 2022, it contributed 14 properties to a local government-led service worker accommodation strategy aimed at providing affordable housing to non-mining workers.
The news comes hot on the heels of Perdaman revealing it would sink $122 million into building 100 homes in Karratha for its urea plant workforce.
Separately, the City of Karratha is pursuing a gamut of ideas to address the crippling rental shortage in the town.
Among those plans is acquiring land to finally begin development of a new suburb, pushing the state government to reduce its footprint in the rental market by building new homes, and probing several developer requests for support mechanisms to enable mid-high-density builds.
