[+] Commute-Busting Train Project to Reignite Sunny Coast Boom

“To be caught by surprise by this is like being ambushed by a tortoise,” says Sunshine Coast Council urban growth program director James Coutts. The new Sunshine Coast rail line from the hinterland to beach is a project 30 years in the making, complete with a rail corridor colloquially known as CAMCOS—the Caboolture to Maroochydore Corridor Study. The project should lure developers and buyers to the region, bumping house prices up and boosting demand, in part due to it making the commute by rail to Brisbane more appealling than road. Six stations will be opened on the line. The Queensland and Federal Governments will each contribute $2.75 billion. The funding includes the first stage—from Beerwah through Stockland’s Aura development to Caloundra. The line will then go up the coast to Aroona, Birtinya, Mountain Creek and on to Sun Central—or Maroochydore CBD— all in time for the 2032 Olympics. ▲ The CAMCOS protected alignment runs past Maroochydore to the Sunshine Coast Airport. The urban growth program director says the project has been on the books since the 1990s but every few years is pushed back a few years—yet it has already shaped the region. “Cities take their own shape and on the Sunshine Coast it follows the coast, so it is quite a linear city,” Coutts says. “Because the corridor for the rail has been reserved for so long the planning has actually acknowledged that, so we don’t have to do anything to change our planning to capitalise on the rail. “We’ve just been holding our breath and biding our time for a decision to be made to proceed, we’re ahead of the curve in that way. “Its importance can ’ t be understated as a sign of coming of age, confidence, opportunity and connectedness and all those things we talk about as part of what makes for quality urban places. “It serves both the predominant areas of new community growth [greenfield] … it also serves the continuing growth of the established urban corridor. “We are fond of saying, over the next 20 years the population will grow by the size of Townsville.” ▲ The future Sunshine Coast Rail line will provide services to higher-density homes and open opportunities for developers. While growth on the Sunshine Coast started slow, it is gaining pace now and is expected to grow 2.5 per cent per year until 2041 when 500,000 will live there. For the decade from 2011, about 2450 homes were built each year. About 80 per cent of the region’s growth came from migration from other parts of the country. The largest segment to increase in the region has been people aged 65 to 74 years but the new rail line could open the doors to younger people commuting to Brisbane for work yet living near the beaches. One of the big beneficiaries of the new line is Stockland, which has more than 20,000 new homes, a future town centre and high-density apartments at its Aura masterplan near Nirimba Station. An even bigger greenfield expansion is planed for Beerwah East between the Bruce Highway and Steve Irwin Way. Hotspotting managing director Terry Ryder says the more recent big infrastructure spend on the hospital precinct, airport and Sunshine Plaza impacted prices by bringing in new workers, including doctors. “From the viewpoint of property values, it’s a big plus,” Ryder says. “Going back 10 years it was a very poor performing market that transformed into one of the boom markets of the country for a period of three years with a big infrastructure spend. “That translated to demand for real estate.” ▲ Walker Corporation is investing $2.5 billion in the Maroochydore City Centre in a development deal with council and Sun Central Maroochydore. Ryder says that historically, infrastructure such as this has three phases of growth when it comes to an impact on real estate. “The Sunshine Coast market had huge growth until 18 months ago, that cycle has run its course and tapered off,” Ryder says. “It’s ready to have another surge and this announcement might be one of the catalysts. “People say, ‘Oh they’re going to build a rail link, I’ll invest ’ . “When they actually start building there’s another surge because people can actually trust that it is happening and when it is finished people can touch it, feel and experience it. “The biggest growth is at the announcement but that’s a bit risky because we have a history of politicians promising things when elections are held. “Politicians announce big projects and they don ’ t happen for 10 or 50 years like the one that went eventually to Redcliffe. “So the fact they’ve seemed to have made a commitment, it is really important.” Construction on stage one of the rail line is expected to start in 2026. Despite big development on the way, a few projects have failed in the region, including a rejected agri-tourism farm while the site for a planned Kelly Slater surf park was sold back to the council. However, hotels, highrises and hospitals are on the up, including recent additions with the El Parasol, a 12-storey tower at Maroochydore, the Holiday Inn &amp; Suites Caloundra and 10-storey Maroochy Private Hospital among others. You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.

[+] Commute-Busting Train Project to Reignite Sunny Coast Boom

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