The next seven years are undoubtedly going to bring much hype and excitement to South East Queensland in preparations for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The games are set to create 30,000 further jobs and inject $2 billion into the states economy. But how much of this is projected to benefit the construction industry?
The construction industry is in fact one of two of the biggest benefactors of the successful bid. Although it is believed the bid win was due to the fact that 80% of the planned venues are already in place, there is an expected $500million investment projected for the industry. This includes the building of new sporting venues, refurbishment of existing venues and most significantly the development of the athletes eco-village.
The chosen site for the athletes village is within the Parklands Showgrounds, adjoining Griffith University and the newly built University Hospital. The village will house 6,000 athletes for the duration of the games.
Although a Gold Coast win, the 2018 Commonwealth Games will stretch across much of the Queensland state with events also held in Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville. Graham Cuthbert, Executive Director of QLD Master Builders Association stated that, “…certainly for the area it will be a huge benefit, there is a fair amount of construction to be done.”
The projected figures mentioned though are solely that at which will be invested in games specific infrastructure. It does not include the private sector that will begin improvements in order to take advantage of the international exposure and influx of tourists.
Commenting is closed for this article.