What’s in a name? Plenty for Gold Coast-based Sherpa Property Group, according to chief executive Christie Leet. Sherpa is ramping up its development pipeline with the acquisition of two new sites, in Biggera Waters and Burleigh Heads. The two deals build upon recent sales success and extend the group’s workbook on the Gold Coast to $250 million. In this TUD+ Briefing, Leet explains how the company approaches projects and its philosophy, why the Gold Coast is it’s home ground and the significance of that name. Leet said not long before moving to the Gold Coast from the Whitsundays, he had been to the Mt Everest base camp, and saw similarities between the work Sherpas do and the role of developers. He said that like the Sherpas of the Himalayas, his company aims to do the heavy lifting for the end user. Leet said the Gold Coast had underlying factors that made it a strong market, including high employment, strong migration, and an availability of sites for projects. “We’ve established what we want and what we do, and when you do that, projects come to you,” he said. “That’s what happened in both cases with the Biggera Waters and Burleigh Heads projects—they came to us.” Leet said looking beyond the coastal strip had paid off for Sherpa, and that by working up a model for development away from the coast, they’d been able to make the most of these two opportunities. He said there were locations on the Gold Coast of value and interest away from the beach. “The northern Gold Coast, along the Broadwater, is exceptional,” he said. You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.
