Revamped Retail Plans Filed for Qld Growth Suburb

Expanded plans have been filed for a shopping centre development in one of south-east Queensland’s fastest growth suburbs north of Brisbane.

The $48-million proposal lodged with Moreton Bay Regional Council by developers JAM Group and Rankin Corp follows the acquisition of an adjoining property.

To be known as Morayfield Marketplace, it would have a gross floor area of 7800sq m occupied by a full-line Coles supermarket, 3760sq-m of retail and commercial tenancies as well as a 502sq m service station, drive-through food and drink outlet and 390 parking spaces

It is earmarked for a 32,013sq m site at 192-202 Oakey Flat Road, Morayfield South, with more than 6000 housing lots approved in the surrounding area.

“That’s just current DAs approved in the last couple of years,” JAM Property Group director Jim Costello said. “It just shows you the amount of activity that’s happening and there’s going to be a lot more.

“It’s huge ... Lendlease is just down the road from us. You’ve got Ausbuild, you’ve got Cedar Woods—all within three minutes from our centre.

“It’s all being rolled out around us and ultimately there’s going to be a catchment of around 30,000 by 2035. So, it just makes sense. It’s an infill area between Burpengary and Morayfield and close to the Sunshine Coast.”

Costello said the proposal also would generate jobs in an area with youth unemployment of about 16 per cent.

“About 220 to 250 jobs will be created and that’s a big benefit for the local area,” he said.

▲ The site of the proposed Morayfield Marketplace shopping centre at the junction of Oakey Flat and Clark roads.

Pending approval, construction of the shopping centre at the junction of Oakey Flat and Clark roads is expected to begin early next year with a view to completion in mid-2025.

According to a submitted town planning report, approval was granted for a neighbourhood centre in 2017 but with the acquisition of the site next door the proposal was expanded into a local centre with 1-2 storey built form plus undercroft parking.

“The attributes of the site and surrounds make it suitable for the development of a local centre to serve the needs of the growing residential community in Morayfield and Morayfield South,” it said.

“The site has frontage to two major roads, making it conveniently accessible, and is bordered by a local park to the south and a waterway corridor to the east.

“The range of uses that will be available in the development will provide an appropriate mix of uses as contemplated for a local centre, and will maintain a scale that serves the local catchment and is a focus for retail and commercial activity in the local area.”

A future extension of the proposed centre—up to an allowable gross floor area of 11,000sq m—have been built into the plans “subject to demand and tenant interest that emerges following the commencement of the centre use” but would require a further application.

Meanwhile, stage two of Mintus Properties’ MKT Market Square retail hub at nearby Deception Bay is well advanced with the addition of a full-line supermarket and new specialty stores.

Upon completion, the centre will comprise about 21,150sq m of retail space occupied by Woolworths, Coles, Dan Murphy’s, a medical precinct, childcare facility, six mini majors, Centrelink, and 40 specialty retailers.

Moreton Bay is the third-largest council in Australia with a population larger than Canberra that is forecasted to grow by 210,000 to 690,000 by 2041.