The industrial market on the Gold Coast as a whole continues to show uplift in value levels due to strong buyer demand and limited industrial land supply as well as the persisting low interest rate environment, setting record price levels recently. In response, developers have sought to market small or boutique strata unit developments in the central and southern Gold Coast industrial precincts, which represent some of the last development sites available at present. Below is a synopsis of some of these properties.

• 8 Production Av, Molendinar – This property sold in October 2017 for $3.1 million, representing $406 per square metre of land, as a redevelopment site. The property has since been marketed with 16 industrial strata units available for sale off the plan with sizes ranging from 110 to 660 square metres. The development has been marketed for circa two weeks to date with three units under contract so far. Asking prices range from $2,100 to $2,700 per square metre of floor area;
• 10 Technology Dr, Arundel – Construction has commenced on this property which will comprise 14 strata titled industrial units ranging from 160 to 300 square metres in size. Marketing of the units has only recently commenced with four units under contract and two remaining for sale. The balance are to be retained by the owner for lease. Asking prices for the units for sale range from circa $2,500 to $2,700 per square metre of floor area.
• 45 Hutchinson St, Burleigh Heads – The property has yet to receive DA approval, however is planned for the construction of 16 industrial units with pre-commitments for 11 of the units already (in an approximately two month marketing campaign). The units range from 127 to 395 square metres with asking prices currently in the order of $2,800 to $3,000 per square metre of floor area.

It is apparent from the above that there is greater value for money for buyers within the central Gold Coast industrial regions, the Burleigh Heads/ southern region having a more limited supply of industrial units and development sites.

In addition, the old Colgate Palmolive site at Captain Cook Drive, Arundel has recently sold, which has the capacity to deliver up to 60 new industrial lots in the next two to three years. Should this transpire, a more tempered supply/demand metric could be witnessed over the medium term.

The recent announcement that the State and Federal Government have come to an agreement on funding for the major upgrade of the M1 Pacific Motorway is significant for the Gold Coast. This will improve travel times in the region which have become hampered by increasingly greater levels of traffic congestion, escalating with the growing population of the region. The upgrade will likely have a substantial impact on industrial properties in the area with value levels anticipated to continue to firm (should interest rates remain at record low levels) and potentially leading to more small sites being developed or redeveloped to cater for demand.

Overall, the outlook for industrial properties on the central and southern Gold Coast remains highly positive with some fundamental drivers for price growth at play.