Lendlease makes welcome return to Brisbane northern corridor
When the very first blocks of land were released at North Lakes in 1999, it was the culmination of more than five years of careful planning and design work on a scale rarely seen in Australia before.
The developer behind the North Lakes masterplan was Lendlease, and the project would go on to become one of Queensland’s best known and loved communities, winning multiple state and national awards.
Kinma Valley at Morayfield, set to provide around 2,500 homes for more than 6,500 people, marks a welcome return to the northern Brisbane region for Lendlease.
Lendlease Senior Development Manager for Kinma Valley Tanya Martin said North Lakes remained one of the most superbly planned communities Lendlease had ever conceived, holding significant sentimental value to the team.
“As our first residential project in this fast-growing region since we launched North Lakes, Kinma Valley will also be very special to Lendlease, and we look forward to creating a new legacy for Queensland,” she said.
Perfectly placed for success
North Lakes, known at the time as Mango Hill, was the perfect place for a new city-sized satellite community to meet the growing demand for new homes in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay corridor.
As former grazing land, there were few environmental constraints. The site was located at the intersection of two major thoroughfares (Anzac Avenue and the Bruce Highway) and offered around five kilometres of direct highway frontage.
In the late 1990s, South East Queensland was rated the second fastest growing urban region in the world and the Moreton Bay corridor was topping growth rates within SEQ.
The Lendlease intention was to create a diverse masterplanned community that provided homes for as wide a segment of the population as possible and contained all the services they needed to live, work and play in this exciting region.
A large regional shopping centre was secured and Lendlease established other relationships with education providers, golf course developers and many others that would prove crucial to the future success of North Lakes.
Everything that followed was carefully designed in accordance with the original Lendlease masterplan. Natural materials featured throughout the community, lakes were positioned to create pleasing local views, and inviting civic spaces were introduced to promote connection and wellbeing.
Delivering on the Lendlease vision
“There is no doubt that the Lendlease vision for North Lakes was absolutely achieved,” said Tanya Martin.
“Early buyers included everyone from young families and first home buyers to empty nesters and retirees. Many of the first residents were actually single females attracted by affordability and the chance for to get a foot on the home ownership ladder.
“Owning a home at North Lakes became almost like a right of passage for many Queenslanders, setting them up for a prosperous future. It also became a very popular community for new arrivals to
Australia looking for a friendly place to settle down.
“With the first land release at our new Kinma Valley community coming soon, there is now an opportunity for a new generation of Queensland families to write their own story.”