Ground has been broken on MiHaven’s $60 million SkyHaven project, the first short-term accommodation facility at Cairns Airport.
James and Sarah Mort’s MiHaven is a Cairns-based, B Corp social enterprise with extensive property development and construction experience.
“This is not a build it and they will come project,” James Mort said. “If anything, we will probably say why did we not build more at the time, given the overwhelming response we have received to date, before we could even make this project public.”
Tropical Airport Accommodation Pty Ltd (TAA), a subsidiary of MiHaven, will provide the high-quality short-term accommodation tailored to the needs of travellers and transient workers “seeking comfort, convenience and direct accessibility to aviation aligned industries based at Cairns Airport”.
With a projected opening in late 2026, the facility will feature 183 self-contained units, café, fully equipped gymnasium, conference and meeting facilities, swimming pools and easy access to airport terminals and associated facilities. When Travel Weekly visited recently, graders and earth movers were hard at work.
The turn-key project is being developed on land within Cairns Airport Business Precinct on a 50-year ground lease arrangement with Cairns Airport Pty Ltd (CAPL).
Cairns Airport has been commercially operating for over 40 years including an international terminal, with annual passenger numbers of over 4.2 million and a significant General Aviation maintenance operation, but until now, there has been no short-term accommodation provided at the airport.
SkyHaven will effectively address the accommodation needs of aviation staff, airlines, travellers and government departments with large, mobile workforces. It will provide safe, secure, and self-contained lodging in a central location.
“Sarah and I are delighted to have had this opportunity to create a truly Cairns based project with all consultants and contractors being deployed locally from Cairns. This is Cairns through and through, directly investing over $60 million into our economy,” MiHaven’s co-founder James Mort said.
The project will enable MiHaven to continue to deliver training and employment outcomes, through its RTO operations, with a particular focus on opportunities for First Nations people.
James Mort is committed to creating an Indigenous training and employment program including an onsite construction training program, providing 5 new Indigenous apprenticeship opportunities, including a purpose-built onsite training facility for the delivery of the theory study.
MiHaven proposes to develop the project in three stages, with Stage 1 + 2 comprising 183 self-contained studios, 1- and 2-bedroom apartments developed immediately, and Stage 3 is currently earmarked to be 200 + beds purpose-built student accommodation servicing the needs of CQU’s Airport based pilot training school and Aviation Australia’s Aviation Engineering School, also based at Cairns Airport, to later follow.
Key trends driving short-term accommodation investment in Cairns include:
Significant upgrades to infrastructure
- $270 million upgrade to Cairns Convention Centre
- $55 million Cairns International Airport Terminal improvements
- $360 million expansion of the Marine precinct
- $250 million Cairns Hospital Precinct expansion
Supply constraints –
- A limited supply of new hotels which is driving demand for existing assets
- No new major hotel/short term accommodation developments in the pipeline
Sustainability and Refurbishments –
- Investors are focusing on sustainable practices and refurbishments to meet modern traveller expectations.
- Most hotels near the airport (aside from Crystalbrook Collection) are of an asset age of at least 25 – 35 years (requiring significant refurbishment),
Cairns Airport recently announced the commencement of work on a new aviation precinct that includes an array of purpose-built infrastructure and facilities.
Cairns Airport breaks ground on new aviation precinct project
