An abandoned sand mine and dump site is now a multi-award-winning development after receiving national recognition last week.
Sunshine Coast-based developer Altum Property Group’s Parkridge Noosa was named Best Medium Density Development at the Urban Development Institute of Australia National 2023 Awards for Excellence at a gala event in Perth last week.
Parkridge Noosa also won a national award last year for Best Project in the Australian Institute of Horticulture awards.
Altum Property Group director Rob McCready attended the event and said he was thrilled to win the award, which recognizes the project’s staff, consultants, contractors and suppliers.
“We were very pleased to win the Queensland category for this award late last year and now to win best in Australia is just an incredible achievement considering the quality of the other developers and the projects we were up against,” he said.
“This award shows that a family-owned development company can compete against the very best in the industry on a national level if they are prepared to work hard and think outside the box like we did at Parkridge Noosa.
“Ultimately what we wanted to create was a true community where people could live in a quality home nestled in nature and surrounded by immaculate landscaping with their own gym, restaurant and providore all within the one development.
“The market responded very positively to Parkridge Noosa and winning the national UDIA award along with the 2022 national Institute of Horticulture awards reinforces the vision we created for the site.”
Parkridge Noosa was developed on a 5.44ha parcel of land that was an abandoned sand mine and dump site, but otherwise almost entirely enveloped in protected parkland. It sits between Noosa National Park (Weyba Section), Girraween Nature Reserve and the Noosa Springs Golf Club and Resort.
Fellow director Alex Rigby said the project commenced in 2017 and overseeing the transformation of the site over the past five years had been very rewarding.
“Our ability to take a disused sand mine and transform it into a stunning 179-dwelling mixed-use development highlights the skill and dedication of our team and our collective ability to create a harmonious environment between the mixed-use project and the nearby Girraween Nature Reserve,” he said.
“This social and community infrastructure we have created as part of the development doesn’t necessarily benefit the developer from a financial perspective, but we can now clearly see its significant positive lasting legacy for current and future residents.”
Mr McCready said Altum Property Group’s other major Sunshine Coast project is the proposed Eumundi supermarket project.
“Eumundi is the only significant coastal town that still doesn’t have a supermarket providing lower-cost groceries for the rapidly expanding number of families within the local community,” he said.
“There isn’t a week that goes by that I’m not asked by a local ‘when are we starting work?’, so anticipation is really building.”
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