Hitting the Big Time: Land Lease Investment Takes Off

Land Lease communities are the alternate asset class with a massive trajectory, from small town investments a decade ago to attracting the biggest players in development nationally.

The sector is taking advantage of market trends for affordability, regional living and an aging population with total transactions well exceeding the billion-dollar mark.

While business is booming, breaking into the market was no easy feat in the early days for cashed-up developers.

Colliers director Liam Greentree said effectively nobody wanted to sell tourist parks or communities so these assets had to be built to keep up with demand.

“There was a large push from groups like Gateway Lifestyle, Tasman Capital and Ingenia Lifestyle in 2013-14 that saw a rampant acquisition spree from all three parties,” Greentree said.

▲ A render of Halcyon Greens at Pimpama on the Gold Coast.

“This meant a substantial increase in appetite for effectively mixed-use assets where it is part tourism park, part manufactured homes or land lease community.

“That transitioned into pure development of land lease communities and that was basically due to the lack of supply or willing vendors in the market.”

Greentree will be among presenters at The Urban Developer Land Lease Communities vSummit, a one-day conference that explores the development context for this sector, on Thursday, 27 July.

One of the biggest sales was when Stockland acquired Halcyon for $620 million in 2021 and estates nationwide continued to change hands between a range of key players.

Meanwhile, luring residents to lease a plot of land and own their homes proved profitable operators and land owners alike with homes ranging from $300,000 to $1.5 million.

The Urban Developer Land Lease vSummit will take place on Thursday, July 27. 

Click here to register and learn more.