Investors have been quick to snap up their share of a parcel of prime industrial land in Yandina, as property experts warn of supply tightening rapidly amid fears the region might run out of available stock within a few years.
The site – a 5,144sqm allotment on Central Park Road, near the entrance to the Yandina Industrial Park – was offered to investors by Sunshine Coast-based RM Capital, the investment arm of Rafter Myers, with plans to develop 11 smaller-sized industrial lots.
RM Capital, which has been highly active in recent months developing value-driven property investments in the region, paid $3.85 million for the site off-market, and settled on the site mid-June.
The RMC Yandina Fund, established to allow investors to become partners in the enterprise, was quickly over-subscribed, and a code assessable Development Application will be lodged with Sunshine Coast Council to redevelop the site.
RM Capital’s goal is to establish 11 industrial lots, market the properties, and sell them to owner-occupiers and investors over the next two years. The Fund forecasts a total return of about 68%, with a projected annual Internal Rate of Return of 20%.
RM Capital director Remi Rafter said there were few, if any, opportunities to develop industrial sites in Yandina. “This is a key corner site – one of the best in Yandina,” he said.
The site is three minutes from Yandina’s town centre, 30 minutes from Noosa and 80 minutes from Brisbane. It is located within a tightly held industrial park and has direct access to the Bruce Highway, Queensland’s major road linking Brisbane with the state’s northern coastal cities.
Currently, it houses an older-style warehouse and several vacant buildings, all of which will be demolished to make way for the new development. It is serviced by a sealed dual carriageway, which carries minimal traffic.
With strong demand from local trades, construction and service businesses, Mr Rafter is confident the lots will be popular with investors and traders seeking smaller-format strata units.
Yandina, once predicted to become the Sunshine Coast’s major centre, was the first town to be settled in a region that is now one of the fastest-growing in Australia.
The Sunshine Coast is the leading destination for internal migration in the country, fuelling spectacular population growth and unparalleled infrastructure development. Projects such as the Maroochydore City Centre, the airport expansion and ongoing road upgrades are driving employment and business activity.
But such rapid growth generates its own issues, notably a shortage of industrial space. The industrial sector dominates commercial property performance across the Sunshine State, with yields strong, demand unrelenting, and land values growing more rapidly than most metropolitan areas.
