Diversity scale and depth at North Lakes

Diversity, scale and depth at North LakesSixteen years after the first residents moved in, Stockland’s North Lakes community is still breaking new ground, and evolving to meet the needs of new residents.Stockland’s residential development beat 12 other finalists to win the EPM Projects Award for Best Master Planned Community at the Property Council of Australia / Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation & Excellence Awards in May.David Laner, Stockland’s regional manager, says the award acknowledges the project’s innovation and scope. “North Lakes is a truly ground-breaking master-planned community that is now a self-sustaining, residential and economic powerhouse of the Moreton Bay region”.Located 30 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD, North Lakes is home to more than 20,000 residents and 5,000 homes, and delivers a wide range of quality housing options.Since its inception in 1999, North Lakes has “delivered an incredible diversity, scale and depth of facilities and services” says Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison.The community now features more than 60 local and village parks, two primary schools and two secondary schools, shopping facilities, a community library and an 18-hole championship golf course.Morrison says North Lakes was chosen by the judges because it “boasts a wide range of housing options – from large family homes to townhouses and retirement villages so people can remain within the community they love as they age”.Stockland’s vision for North Lakes was an active and sustainable destination with the “right mix” of facilities, Laner adds, including residential, retirement and retail, commercial and community, health, education and entertainment.”Today, 16 years after the first residents started moving in, it is rewarding to see that all of these aspects have come together,” Laner explains.Even now, as the master-planned community nears completion, North Lakes is continuing to adapt to meet the changing needs of the current generation of new home buyers, Lader says, such as “more affordable, lower maintenance homes sites for first home buyers, downsizers and young families”.Lader believes North Lakes has consistently performed above industry standards because of its “high quality and presentation, product mix, economies of scale, and ability to adapt to changes in demand and economic conditions”.”Our business park and town centre currently have an employment base of around 6,0 jobs.”And North Lakes will ultimately provide the equivalent of 13,000 full-time jobs, providing an estimated $906 million annual boost to the Moreton Bay region and Queensland economies.”