Aspire Industrial Park : High impact between Brisbane & the Gold Coast
When was the site acquired?
The site was purchased in late 2016 and settled 8 months later in mid-2017. The due diligence period was only 60 days which was preferred as a developer so Alder Developments could move the project to unconditional as soon as possible.
How long did it take to get approval and what were the main challenges?
The ROL approval was a 2 stage process for Alder.
First it involved a superseded scheme request, which was facilitated quickly by the City of Gold Coast, following a monumental pre-lodgement meeting in November 2016.
The second phase was a full ROL application, assessed against the (Superseded) planning scheme which had two major challenges.
The first challenge was to overcome the environmental buffer required by council to a neighbouring recreational open space, leased by motorcross and archery clubs. Council maintained the open space contained habitat which required a greater buffer than the planning scheme, however Alder demonstrated the buffer could be removed because the project’s bio-basin acted as a suitable buffer and the open space was recreational in nature, not conservation. Alder also established the entire land was zoned industrial and buffers should not be forced onto zoned land, due to the shortage of greenfield land in SEQ and a number of other sites had small or no buffers to the same open space on adjoining boundaries.. The final positioning of the bio-basin on the boundary of the site greatly assisted in the decision to remove the buffer requirements.
The other major challenge that delayed the approval by 5 months was the indecision regarding the purpose of the road as a trunk road or as a cul-de-sac but with additional road reserve provided for future trunk purposes. In the end after elevating internal Council issues and putting forward the project case, the decision was to create the full length trunk road within the property and leave the future external connection for Council.
The approval also needed a few referral responses, but Alder had got on top of the Optus, Energex and transport referrals early and been in regular discussion with these firms about their plans. In fact, the relationship and progress with Energex was so good they missed the referral response timing for the ROL, so it was approved without their letter – Alder were doing what they wanted as they wanted it, so Energex had a high level of comfort with the outcomes they would get. Establishing trust early on was critical to this occurring.
When was the first sod turned?
The first sod was turned with tree clearing in early 2018 and with earthworks commencing in mid-2018.
How big will the project be?
The project is an 11ha site developed in one stage for 15 large industrial High Impact zoned lots. In context it is the equivalent area to building 180 residential lots, and associated roads, services, stormwater and 1 ha of open space – much more than most people would build in one stage.
This was the right way to deliver this stage, given the earthworks and single road required, and Alder were confident sales would be strong and steady.
What makes your project special/unique?
The land is some of the only High Impact zoned land available in southern SEQ – the nearest other sites are at the Port of Brisbane, Ipswich around Swanbank or down at the very tightly held/developed Burleigh. High Impact land is suited to operations with outdoor components, 24 hour operations or heavy manufacturing. There are a lot of those uses in SEQ and some of them bought at Aspire – examples are an asphalt manufacturer, a concrete pre-cast yard, a concrete batching plant and a boat builder. All are operators with a large outdoor working environment and noise, odours, traffic or 24 hour operation which need to be on High Impact zoned sites, away from sensitive (residential) land use.
What is the smallest parcel that has been sold and what was it used for?
The smallest lot sold has been 4,000m² and there are 3 of them at this size. One will be for a paint retailer, one for a transport company and the other for general industry, yet to be leased.
What is the largest parcel sold and what has it been used for?
The largest sale was 3 lots sold to the asphalt manufacturer for a 24 hour plant, laboratory and office at a touch over 16,000m². They have also leased a further 5,000m² for trucking related activities to deliver the asphalt, with operations on all due to start late in 2020.
How has this project been influenced by the business community?
The demand for industrial land was picking up through 2015 and 2016, in (Greg Tupicoff’s) view because residential and retail had picked up from late 2011 and been going strong for 4 years. As Greg always says, “retail follows residential” and he would add to that “industrial then commercial follow suit”.
There is a lot of growth in SEQ, and how that has translated to industrial is demand for more premises for all types of activity from hard stand to bespoke structures to warehouse.
One area of growth that has not yet purchased on site, but had a lot of interest is the recycling industry. The industry players believe high impact land suits their use (mostly outdoor, noisy and quite untidy type of use) and they have keenly investigated the site, based on the government stimulus for recycling and sustainable industry growth. Alder have not made a sale yet, but had 10 genuine enquiries, with land value being slightly too high for the outdoor use they want to operate.
High impact land is also fast running out – there is more of a shortage of this type of land than residential supply. Once high impact land is gone, in theory we can not allow new brewery’s or asphalt plants or milk factories or glass recycling (the latter two like the ones at West End) to establish in any medium or low impact zones, as they are not compatible in town planning terms. To Greg, this is a crisis of land shortage, not well known because there are so few buyers and developers in this space to make enough noise about the problem.
How has this project been influenced by surrounding uses, technology and the environment?
Yatala is a booming industrial area, and largely always has been. There are so many different businesses in Yatala and so many great projects being delivered by some big companies (Frasers and Stocklands). It is the Gold Coasts only significant industrial growth area which remains affordable and well positioned. Technology has played no part, except for the benefit of NBN connection, but even that has only been a minor part. The biggest influence has been the right zoning for the proposed use and the cost of land and infrastructure charges.
Alder have 3 lots remaining, all influenced by the overhead powerlines. These powerlines inhibit useable building area and restrict some working at heights.
Has your project won any awards?
None yet, and because it is just an industrial subdivision it is unlikely to do so. But it would be award winning for the way the business tackled the Energex overhead powerline solution, the area provided for the development footprint and the outcome of sales at or near list price with very little discount given on any sales.
Greg is very proud of the outcome and if there was an award category for industrial, he is sure Aspire would be in with a great chance.