Development pipeline still strong in Robina

April 24, 2012 | Industrial | Research | Residential | Commercial

Development spending in the Robina area has fallen slightly from last year, but the level of spending is still the second highest on record, according to the latest research from Colliers International.

The Colliers International Robina Development Map found that the level of development spending in the Robina area on the southern Gold Coast, which covers Robina, Varsity Lakes, Burleigh, Elanora, Reedy Creek, Tallebudgera and Palm Beach, peaked at nearly $8.5 billion last year, and this year it was recorded at around $7.76 billion.  

Lynda Campbell, Colliers International Gold Coast research manager, said the Robina area had been a hotspot for development over the past few years and while there was still plenty happening, a sizeable proportion of the development in the pipeline had now reached completion.

“Last year our research found that infrastructure spending in the area had grown by a huge 120 per cent to $6.052 billion from $2.750 billion, but this year several projects have been completed, which has seen that figure drop back to $5.345 billion,” she said. “However, this is still one of the highest levels of infrastructure development on the Gold Coast.  

“The largest infrastructure project that was completed in the past year was the Robina Hospital expansion, a development worth $287 million.

“Meanwhile in other sectors, the Varsity Lakes masterplanned community – a mixed development project - is now nearing completion and spending has been scaled back accordingly, from $1 billion to $100 million, reflecting just the development of the remaining South Bay precinct.”  

Despite the drop in development spending overall in the Robina area, Ms Campbell said infrastructure is still the sector where the greatest amount of money is being spent.

“The massive infrastructure spending increase in Robina last year was largely due to plans for the M1 upgrade, a project worth $3.79 billion, and that project, which is now under construction with interchange upgrades underway at Robina and Varsity Lakes, is still the biggest in the pipeline in the area,” she said.  

“Across all sectors, ten new projects were added to the development pipeline in the Robina area over the past year, but they were small scale, adding up to a total value of $134.5 million.

“In terms of the number of new projects, apartments dominate the list, with four such developments in the pipeline worth a total of $37 million. But in terms of dollar value, infrastructure dominates, with three new projects in the pipeline worth a total of $70 million.  

“The biggest new project in the Robina area is the $50 million long-term expansion plan for St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera and the rest range in spend from $5 million to $18 million.”

Ms Campbell said overall there were 47 projects in the pipeline for the Robina area, covering development sectors including residential, apartments, mixed, commercial and infrastructure.  

“There are just under $1 billion in development projects under construction across 19 projects in the area and another $6.76 billion across 28 projects planned,” she said.

After infrastructure, the sector the most amount of money is being pumped into is mixed developments, with spending recorded at $912.5 million; followed by residential, with spending at $650 million; apartments at 564.5 million; and commercial at $286.4 million.  

Stewart Gilchrist, Colliers International Gold Coast Director, said much of the development in the Robina area was concentrated in the suburb of Robina itself, along with neighbouring Varsity Lakes.

“Robina and Varsity Lakes in particular have been a hive of activity over the past few years,” he said. “Within these two suburbs there are currently 18 development projects in the pipeline, worth a total of nearly $1 billion.  

“These suburbs started out as masterplanned communities and because they were planned so well, they now have everything on offer.

“Robina Town Centre is the biggest shopping centre on the Gold Coast and the second biggest in Queensland, the suburb is home to the second largest office precinct on the Gold Coast and there are all kinds of facilities on offer, including hospitals and a huge sporting stadium, which is home to NRL club the Gold Coast Titans.  

“Robina is also ideally located – in addition to being close to beaches, it has great access to transport, with rail links in the suburb and the motorway situated next to it, making it easy to head north to Brisbane south to Coolangatta.”

Mr Gilchrist said Burleigh – which covers the suburbs of Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters and Burleigh West – is also a development hotspot, with a total of 10 projects underway worth more than $800 million.  

“The largest private development project in the Robina area is at Burleigh Waters,” he said. “The $500 mixed-use project, called Urbia, involves a redevelopment of the Treetops Shopping Centre with the addition of apartments, restaurants and showrooms.”

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