Cane fields connecting Brisbane and the Gold Coast set for record sale

Contact

Sep 13, 2016

Cane fields connecting Brisbane and the Gold Coast set for record sale

The owners of 248 cane field properties have joined forces to sell a vast parcel of land connecting Brisbane and the Gold Coast, paving the way for development of a huge new city.

Photo by Haifsa Rafique on Unsplash

The owners of 248 cane field properties have joined forces to sell a parcel of land covering an area the size of Manhattan, opening up the possibility that development could extend all the way from Brisbane to the Gold Coast.

The deal has been put together by Rob Machon and stockbroker, Wayne Cummins, both of whom recently moved to the Gold Coast from Sydney, and has been helped along by cane farmer Arthur Fiumini.

The 6,117 hectare site could be used to build a vast new city, and is likely to achieve a sale price of more than $1 billion, setting a land sale record for the area.

The land is more than 10 times the size of Surfers Paradise, and is bordered by the M1, Moreton Bay and two rivers.

There are 40 landowners in the deal, many of them canefarmers. If a masterplanned city is eventually built on the site, it is expected cane growing will be gradually phased out.

Canford Property is marketing the deal, and told the Gold Coast Bulletin, they are speaking to foreign buyers, including "some of China's largest developers and theme park operators who want to unset Disney and develop one of the world's larges theme parks on the Gold Coast."

The area is currently zoned rural, which could pose a hurdle to development, though the project has the backing of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.

“The secondary opportunities of education sector expansion and silicon valley-type activity is particularly exciting to me," says Tate in a marketing document.

The land is situated on a flood plain. "“Development can’t be piecemeal — that would never work given the flood and drainage challenges," said Tate.

Canford managing director, Roland Evans, told The Gold Coast Bulletin, “What we’re looking for is someone who’s got the ability to do the master planning for this, because it’s such a massive concept.”

“Effectively it closes the gap between the Gold Coast and Brisbane," he said.