Abacus Plots Self-Storage Scheme at Caloundra
Abacus Storage King has filed plans for a self-storage facility at Stockland’s Aura Business Park in Queensland as the park nears capacity.
Plans have been submitted via the Economic Development Queensland pathway for a new warehouse at Baringa on the Sunshine Coast. The site is in the Caloundra South Priority Development Area.
The site in question comprises Lots 1006 and 1007 of Stage 20 of the wider $5-billion masterplanned Stockland scheme, which includes two business parks.
The first stage valued at $222-million began in 2017 and plans for the second were filed last year.
The vacant 6356sq m site that is the subject of the application has a frontage to Potter Road as well as the future Graf Drive and its Racecourse Road extension.
Abacus Storage King, which undertook an Initial Public Offering in 2023 that separated it from the Abacus Group and raised $224 million, wants to build a three-storey self-storage facility with a gross floor area of 9542sq m on the site.
It would be the second self-storage facility in the Aura Business Park.
The park is nearing capacity—130 lots have sold, leaving just six remaining, according to Colliers.
Abacus said in its EDQ application that this was “not due to lack of demand, but due to a desire for higher employment generating uses to be located within the Business Park”.
But demand for an additional self-storage facility to join the Kennards facility had now been realised, it said.
Abacus Storage King, which has $3.6-billion in assets and 1.2 million square metres across its portfolio of 204 operating stores, was subject to a takeover bid earlier this year. It failed when the bidders could not agree on the company’s value assessment.
South African billionaire Nathan Kirsh, his Ki Corporation vehicle and New York Stock Exchange-listed Public Storage pulled their $2.17-billion bid for the company in August.
However, the bid may yet return. Abacus’s quarterly update to the ASX this week made mention of a Ki Corporation executive having been nominated to join its board.
Abacus did, however, highlight the elevated cost of living weighing on discretionary spending, which could prove to be a headwind in the sector.
Despite this, institutional capital is seeing strength in the long-term fundamentals of the sector.
BlackRock announced its entrance into the Australian self-storage market with the $450-million acquisition of StoreLocal this year.
Hot on its heels, global asset manager Barings acquired a 95 per cent, $200-million stake in Swift Storage.
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