Masterplan Approved For New $3.3 Billion Township: Caloundra South

PLANS for a $3.3 billion new community, known as the Caloundra South project, have advanced with the Queensland Urban Land Development Authority approving the master plan.

The project will be developed over the next 20 to 30 years by Sydney based developer Stockland.

It will include a new commercial centre with about 650,000 square metres of space. It will also include up to 20,000 dwellings capable of accommodating some 50,000 people.

The master plan includes infrastructure, environmental protection, open space, community facilities, commercial uses and housing. It will also include a new town centre, three district centres, six neighbourhood centres and an industrial zone.

Read more

Breathing New Life Into Melbourne’s Landmark Sites

Pentridge Prison, CoburgTHIRTY years ago a three-bedroom house in Thomastown cost more than a three-bedroom house in Fitzroy – that’s testament to how much Melbourne’s attitude to housing has changed.

In the 1970s, to live in Collingwood, Port Melbourne or Yarraville meant to be entrenched in Melbourne’s working class. Houses could languish on the market for months – unsellable, unrentable and not worth fixing up.

Today, to own properties in these and many other particularly inner-city suburbs, is to own the real estate equivalent of a gold mine. Since the 1980s, but especially since the turn of this century, where and how Melburnians want to live has shifted and many disused, derelict but once significant sites have been redeveloped. We look at some of the biggest:

Read more

Stockland Pays $22 Million For Three Retirement Villages

STOCKLAND has paid $22 million for three retirement villages.

The complexes were offloaded by Retirement Villages Group (RVG)), a struggling unlisted retirement fund run by the FKP Property Group and Macquarie Bank.

The portfolio acquisition adds 376 to the number of independent units offered by Stockland. Combined with serviced apartments, it now manages a total of 7403 dwellings.

Read more

Stockland Sells Half Share Interest in Two Brisbane Assets

STOCKLAND Capital Parters, which is responsible for the Stockland Direct Office Trust No 1 (SDOT1) has sold a 50 per cent stake in Brisbane’s Waterfront Place project for $216.4 million.

The Sydney-based developer will also sell 50 per cent of the entity owning the adjacent Eagle Street Pier project to the Melbourne based Future Fund for $16 million, on the basis o f a completed refurbishment.

Stockland will retain a 50 per cent interest in both projects according to an announcement made today (copied below).

The Waterfront place office rises 36 levels and fronts the Brisbane River. Eagle Street Pier is a low-rise 6,200 square metre shopping centre which is currently being refurbished. The sale price for this asset translates to 7 per cent. Sale price coming soon…

Read more

Stockland Acquires Control of 339 Hectare East Leppington Site, Sydney

STOCKLAND has paid an as yet undisclosed sum to secure rights to progressively acquire 339 hectares of land in south-west Sydney.

The East Leppington site is near a proposed Leppington train station, some 14 kilometres from Liverpool and 50 kilometres from the CBD. It plans to build 3000 new homes on the site.

A Stockland statement about the transaction is copied below:

Read more

Stockland Considering Selling Brisbane’s Waterfront Place Office as a Whole

SYDNEY based developer and fund manager Stockland is reportedly considering to sell all of its Waterfront Place office building in Brisbane, after failing to offload a half share since April.

The 36-level building with lower level retail has become tired, and institutional purchasers were said to be turned off by the idea of redeveloping the office and retail components, with a joint venture partner.

Read more

Stockland Pays $48.7 Million For South East Queensland Residential Development Sites

STOCKLAND has paid $48.7 million for residential development sites in south-east Queensland.

In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the Sydney-based developer and fund manager said the properties are about six kilometres south of the Ipswich CBD and 36 kilometres south-east of Queensland capital Brisbane.

Stockland said it looks forward to working with council to deliver value for money homes that cater for a variety of budgets.

Read more

Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre Opens, Craigieburn

SYDNEY based developer has opened its Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre in the outer northern Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn.

A copy of Stockland’s announcement re: the opening is below:

November 23:

Craigieburn residents will benefit from a convenient new neighbourhood shopping experience, following the opening of the Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre on Thursday 17 November 2011.

Read more

CR Kennedy Site, South Yarra, Relisted For Sale

ONE of last year’s biggest development site sales has fallen through forcing the asset to be relisted for sale this week.

The South Yarra property at 661 – 669 Chapel Street is one of the last undeveloped sites within a former industrial precinct known as Forrest Hill that is being rebuilt by various builders as a new village with residential and office skyscrapers.

Occupied and still owned by photographic distributor CR Kennedy, the 3537 square metre site was reported to have sold for $25 million last December to design practice Metier3, which had just offloaded its interest in a Docklands office worth $240 million. It was expected Metier3 would exploit the South Yarra site’s 65 metre frontage to Chapel Street with an apartment-based village.

Read more

Valad Sells St Leonards Office Building at a Discount, For $19 Million

VALAD Property Group has recorded a huge loss from the sale of a seven-level office building on Sydney’s North Shore.

The 39 – 41 Chandos Street office sold to fund manager Markham Corp for $19.05 million in September, after previously being valued this year at $20.9 million.

Valad paid just over $24 million for the office in late 2007.

Read more

GPT May Split Oz and European Assets, as Part of New Strategy

Michael CameronTHE giant GPT Group is understood to be entertaining a plan to split its commercial property assets into two separate vehicles, designed to make the group look more appealing to investors, and improve the group’s negotiation position with banks.

The proposal will see Australian owned office towers and shopping centres managed by one fund, and a swag of “toxic” European assets (owned with failed investment group Babcock & Brown), managed by another fund.

The decision follows capital raisings to the tune of more than $1.7 billion, since GPT’s new chief executive and former banker Michael Cameron took the helm on May 1. In total the group has raised about $3.3 billion in the past 18 months.

Read more

Stockland Sells South Yarra Development Site at a Loss

SYDNEY-based developer Stockland has absorbed a huge financial loss, finally on-selling a prominent South Yarra development site it paid too much for in 2008.

Stockland has reaped $22.5 million for 2 – 4 Yarra Street site, which is set to make way for an approximate 30 level apartment tower with more than 350 flats.

During the economic downturn, Stockland paid local developer Michael Yates $26.25 million for the 2150 square metre site.

At the time of sale Stockland wanted to build about 250 flats on the site, but it successfully lobbied to increase that number to 353, before listing the asset for sale more than a year ago (image of Stockland’s proposed tower, right).

Read more

Metier3 Buys CR Kennedy Site, South Yarra, Melbourne

CASHED-up design practice Metier3 is understood to have paid $25 million for a development site near the retail epicentre of Chapel Street and Toorak Road.

The 3,537 square metre parcel is one of the last remaining major industrial sites within the South Yarra pocket known as Forrest Hill, bound by Alexandra Avenue, Chapel Street, Toorak Road and the train station (which runs parallel to Yarra Street).

Forrest Hill has seen rampant high density redevelopment in recent years. One developer’s ambitious 38-level skyscraper proposal was given the green light 16 months ago.

Read more

Stockland Starts Building Craigieburn Shopping Centre

Stockland ToorongaHAVING opened the Stockland Tooronga Shopping Centre in Glen Iris on Thursday, Sydney-based developer Stockland has bought forward plans to build a $40 million, 7087 square metre complex in Melbourne’s outer north.

Preparatory construction work has started for two Craigieburn developments: the Stockland Highlands Shopping Centre at Bridgehaven Village, and another complex, The Corner Store, off Waterview Boulevard.

Stockland Highlands will open in the middle of next year and include 22 speciality shops and a piazza style town square.

Read more

Ultra Tune Buys Strata Office in Stockland’s Tooronga Redevelopment

DESPITE a job in which driving luxury cars is a perk, Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley doesn’t want to travel for too long, to get to work.

Mr Buckley will relocate the company’s headquarters from Box Hill, to Glen Iris, after paying a speculated $2.4 million for a 400 square metre strata office suite, part of Stockland’s massive $500 million Tooronga Village redevelopment, about nine kilometres south-east of town.

Even though development at the Glen Iris site has been rampant in recent years, Stockland is only into the first redevelopment stage, of five.

Read more

Stockland, ID, Prepare to Develop in Melbourne’s Outer North

IT has been another busy week in Melbourne’s outer north, with one company announcing a major $45.8 million acquisition of a residential development site in Craigieburn, and another launching a $60 million housing estate in nearby Mernda.

In the biggest deal, Sydney-based developer Stockland has acquired a 100 hectare development site abutting its hugely successful Highlands development, about 35 kilometres north of town.

The acquisition is the latest in a string for Stockland, which in February paid $58 million for two sites totalling 117.4 hectares in Wollert, not far from Craigieburn.

Read more

Planning Strategy Affecting 2400 Hectares Between Caroline Springs and Melton Being Formalised, Tenders Called

THE FORMER “thoroughbred country” of Melton is a step closer to becoming part of metropolitan Melbourne, with the council formalising a major planning strategy affecting 2400 hectares of vacant land – effectively creating two new suburbs and allowing for the area’s population to more than double within 15 years.

The affected land between Paynes Road at Rockbank (some 30 kilometres from town) and Toolern Creek, at Melton South (40 kilometres away) is proposed to make way for two new activity centres, shops, offices, a new train station, and low, medium and high density residential.

Read more

Hudson Conway Speculated to be Buying St Kilda Road’s Former Vision Australia Site For $22 Million

St Kilda Road Belgian Beer CafeDEVELOPER Hudson Conway is speculated to be paying about $22 million for a prominent St Kilda Road development site opposite Wesley College, capable of accommodating several high rise apartment towers.

Hudson Conway is believed to be in advanced negotiations to buy the St Kilda Road site, which Sydney-based developer Stockland purchased off Vision Australia for $28.3 million in 2007.

Stockland reportedly sold the subdivided Belgian Beer Cafe bluestone building that was part of the Vision Australia property, for a speculated $7 million last year, after undertaking a $2 million renovation.

Read more

Stockland Pays $58 Million For Two Major Development Sites, Melbourne

Stockland chief Matthew QuinnSYDNEY-based developer Stockland has paid about $58 million for two major residential development sites in Melbourne’s outer north.

In the same week the company announced it would focus less on developing apartments, and more on providing low density housing, the group announced two separate land purchases, of 52.4 hectares, and 65 hectares, in Wollert, about 25 kilometres from town.

Stockland is expected to yield 1100 housing lots from the sites, giving it exposure to Melbourne’s burgeoning Epping growth corridor for some years.

Read more

Vision Australia’s Former Prahran Office Expected to Hit the Market, With Apartment Permit

ALL eyes will turn to Prahran’s former Vision Australia site, which is understood will come back onto the market early next year, with a development permit for a $68 million, 330-unit residential village.
 
Gersh Investment Partners and Pomeroy Pacific agreed to pay Vision Australia $25.1 million for the 201 – 209 High Street office at the peak of the boom in 2007, but this deal has yet to settle.

Read more