Stockland invests $193m on 700ha Ripley Valley site
Okeland Communities – which is supported by Cotswold Investments, chaired by Gavin Bunnings, whose family established the eponymous hardware chain – has sold a 700 hectare Brisbane housing estate site for $193 million.
The master-planned Providence parcel at Ripley Valley was expected to exchange for more than $200m when it was listed in August.
Stockland is the buyer.
The suburb is about 43 kilometres south west of the CBD, in the Ipswich region.
In recent years the precinct has accounted for more than 40 per cent of land sales within greater west Brisbane, the purchaser said.
“As projects within the adjoining sub-corridor of Springfield continue to reach trade-out in the short to medium term, a greater level of this demand is expected to be absorbed by the Ripley Valley,” a statement added.
Stockland will now make progress payments with a $160m lump sum due in December, 2026.
Houses, schools and coffee: Stockland’s Ripley Valley plan
The Ripley Valley master-plan allows for about 7000 residential lots – about 20pc of which Oke Communities has delivered.
Stockland will now start marketing, trading and building the rest (story continues below).
As part of the $2 billion community, it will also construct two schools, sporting facilities, a community centre and café.
“With government stimulus, the post-COVID shift in customer preference towards detached homes in master-planned communities and strong interstate migration driving the South East Queensland residential land market, acquiring this active project will enable us to immediately benefit from the positive…conditions,” the developer’s Communities chief executive officer, Andrew Whitson, said.
“This acquisition aligns with our strategy to restock our development pipeline with well-located, market-ready projects in areas with strong demand fundamentals and expected total returns above our hurdle rates,” according to the executive.
“As Queensland’s largest community developer with three other active residential projects in the greater Brisbane West corridor, we’re in a strong position to leverage our local knowledge and deep understanding of the customer to add value to the thriving community at Providence, and extend our brand presence in the area”.
Colleague David Laner, general manager of Residential, Queensland, added Stockland has $2.8b invested in state communities.
“The Queensland housing market has performed very well over the past six months,” the executive said.
“We’ve seen strong demand and sales success at our nearby projects Augustine Heights, Kalina and Sovereign Pocket recently, and with low interest rates and continued government grants supporting new owner-occupier homebuyers, we are forecasting ongoing local demand for affordable, high quality homes,” he added.
“This acquisition will help us bring more new land to market and continue to offer affordable, well connected homes in one of South East Queensland’s biggest growth areas, increasing opportunities for first homebuyers and families to enter the property market”.
Biggin & Scott Land’s Frank Nagle and Andrew Egan with Ray White Special Projects’ Tony Williams and Mark Creevey represented Subiaco’s Okeland Communities.
