Townsville City Council has named local businessman John Rosel as the first board member and chair of the company to oversee the North Rail Yards project.

Acting Townsville Mayor Mark Molachino said Mr Rosel had excellent knowledge of North Rail Yards in Townsville’s inner city area, including the site constraints.

“John will lead the way as The North Rail Yards company looks to formalise the sites as the southern gateway into Townsville City,” Cr Molachino said.

“Council has a vision to see his project contain high-density residential housing with commercial and cultural activities that educate and celebrate our city’s heritage and future.

“The development of the Townsville North Rail Yards presents a significant opportunity to reconnect the City of Townsville to its past and create a unique and exciting offering within the Waterfront Priority Development Area (PDA).”

Mr Rosel said he was excited to be involved with this city building project to help deliver a great outcome for the people of Townsville.

“The North Rail Yards has been a long time in the making and has had to overcome many hurdles. However, the intensive work that council has done on this site, to overcome those hurdles and mitigate the risk, has brought us to this point,” he said.

“There is still a lot of work ahead, but this is an exciting opportunity, and one I am honoured to lead for Townsville.”

Expressions of interest for development of the site will be released Monday, August 21.