A BUILD-to-rent development due to provide 51 apartments in the centre of Midland is taking shape on the corner of Tuohy Lane and Great Eastern Highway.

Known as Tuohy Gardens after the garden that was originally on the site back in the 50s and 60s ,the project is being developed and built by Bluerock Projects, who will ultimately be the landlord as well.

Bluerock Projects director Daniel Rainone said the name was chosen after community consultation.

The company started on the site in October last year and all going well hope to be welcoming their first tenants late this year or early next year.

“Hopefully we’ll have residents in January, February of next year, subject to how the weather holds up, but we should have the roof on in about six weeks time,’’ he said.

“We’ve also got just over 700sqm of ground floor retail as well that will be leased out, which obviously fronts Great Eastern highway as well.’’

Mr Rainone said their leasing agent CBRE was currently out to market leasing that space.

“We’ve had really good interest, and I think we’ve had good interest, not just in the retail space, but we have a list of people wanting to move into the apartments already, and we haven’t started that leasing process.

“There’s a massive demand for housing in Midland with all the investment that’s going on in the area, the new train station, the new hospital, the university extensions, the new hospital extension, and then all the work the city’s doing to revitalise the town centre.

“It’s a wonderful place to live, and I think we can see more and more demand from residents in the area and people from outside the area wanting to call this their home, and that’s sort of the importance for us of providing good quality housing.’’

He said the development was not social housing.

“It is built in a sustainable manner and it is professionally run by a professional landlord.

“So it doesn’t rely on government grants – it doesn’t rely on handouts of any sort.

“It is a for profit development, but it is tailored to the entry level market, more of an affordable rental product.’’

He said all the timber for the development was produced and sourced in Western Australia and once it was completed it would be the largest timber frame apartment development in the state.

“So it’s about producing sustainable and affordable apartments in communities that really need it.

“That being said, we are a for profit company, and that’s sort of part of our mandate, we have to be able to build and deliver projects that are sustainable, that don’t rely on government grants, but can also provide much needed housing to the local community, which is really important to us.’’

Bluerock Projects owns and operates the building just opposite Tuohy Lane.

“That was our first development that’s nine apartments in a commercial space.

“We used it as a bit of a test bed, if you will, to prove the timber construction methodology here in Western Australia, that’s currently the largest timber apartment building in Western Australia (and) that’s fully rented.

“We manage that building as well, and most of our tenants have been in that building since the day we finished, which was in 2020 so we have had tenants that have been in there four or five years.’’

The Tuohy Gardens site marks the route of the railway tracks of the former Midland Railway Company.

One of the pieces of artwork they will be installing will be a bit of a homage to that historical link.

“We found some of the old railway tracks and we’ll be reinstalling them across the building so that public can enjoy them again.’’