East Lismore Build to Rent (Northern Rivers Pilot)

The East Lismore Build to Rent project (Northern Rivers Build to Rent pilot) is a $30 million Landcom development at the corner of Crawford Road and 138-146 Military Road, East Lismore — adjacent to land owned by Southern Cross University. The project comprises 50 build-to-rent dwellings across two residential flat buildings, with a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments and terrace-style units, basement carparking, a community room, landscaping and public domain works. 20 percent of the dwellings are designated as affordable rental housing. Landcom appointed Toowoomba-based contractor FK Gardner & Sons (FKG Group) as design-and-construct head contractor for the project, with a published value band of $20-50 million. The development application (DA5.2024.200.1) was lodged with Lismore City Council in September 2024 and approved by the Northern Regional Planning Panel in late November 2024 — a 68-day approval timeline. Construction commenced in early 2025 with completion expected in late 2026. The site is not flood-prone — a deliberate planning choice given the catastrophic 2022 Lismore floods that devastated lower-lying parts of the city — and the design maximises solar access and cross ventilation, includes private off-street parking, outdoor communal spaces, a mix of subtropical plantings and views to bushland to the east. The project is part of the Minns NSW Government's commitment to increasing housing supply and diversity in the Northern Rivers, with the NSW Government retaining ownership of the properties on completion to be managed by a government agency or community housing provider. Anchor testing engagement on a project of this kind typically supports facade-bracket, balustrade, balcony and rooftop equipment fixings — verifying that post-installed anchors meet the design action under AS/NZS 5216 and the relevant NSW DBP Act registered-design framework.