Sunshine Coast DA-Ready Site Comes to Market

Two Brisbane developers are selling a key Sunshine Coast development site, already approved for shops, offices, apartments and a four-star hotel.

The amalgamated nine lots covering just under 5300sq m have views of the Pacific Ocean and Glass House Mountains.

The property at 1-9 Bulcock Street and 45-47 Bombala Terrace in Caloundra is being sold by Colliers via an expressions-of-interest campaign.

Sunshine Coast Council approved the developers—Caloundra Central Pty Ltd—for two towers of up to 15 storeys with 104 apartments, 125 hotel rooms, a medical centre, ground-floor commercial, retail, food and beverage and parking for 277 vehicles in December of 2020.

At the time the construction costs for the project were estimated at $250 million.

Colliers agent James Matley said they had received 65 inquiries in the first week of the campaign, mostly from national developers. Many had come from Sydney and Melbourne.

“Amidst a landscape of limited supply and surging demand for high-end residential properties and hotel offerings, potential buyers are presented with an extraordinary chance to seize the full potential of this remarkable site,” Matley said.

“Recreating such a captivating opportunity on the Sunshine Coast would be nearly impossible.”

▲ The development-ready design will have views of the Pacific Ocean and Glass House Mountains.

Colliers Brendan Hogan said the site was strategically positioned on the main street of Caloundra with immediate access to a diverse selection of dining, retail, and entertainment options.

“The project itself will also bring a scale of retail and commercial that the area is in dire need of,” he said.

Documents from CoreLogic show Caloundra Central picked up the nine lots between April 2015 and August 2021, paying a total $14.81 million.

The directors of Caloundra Central are listed as Peter Dawson, managing director of the Brisbane-based, privately owned property investment and development company Citigate Properties, and Gary Deane, also of Brisbane.

Matley would not be drawn on what the property might fetch. He said the developers had specifically asked to bring the deal to market without a price guide.

An increasing number of development-ready sites have been coming to market in the past 12 months, for a host of different reasons.

Capital raisings, insolvencies, rising construction costs, interest rates and the cost of capital, or just because an owner maybe testing the market, an increasing number of shovel-ready developments are up for sale.

The expressions of interest campaign closes July 20.