Development continues apace at Maroochydore's new city centre
The pandemic has not paused the progress of the new Maroochydore city centre with demand still strong for the urban regeneration site.
The 53-hectare project currently has its first three buildings under construction, including the new headquarters of the Sunshine Coast Council.
Spear-headed by SunCentral – the company set up by the council to oversee the design and delivery of the new city centre – the expressions of interest campaign last year for the remaining land was so successful that it could shape the next decade of development on what is tipped as a 20-year project.
“Basically through 2019 we’ve been to the national, and international marketplace … which was to harness the capacity and breadth of tier-one developers nationally and offshore, along with capital funds to evolve the next stages of the project predominantly to the south of this first stage,” SunCentral chief executive John Knaggs said.
“Because the model is [that] the council, through SunCentral, funds the civil works, so we must always engage with the market to seek partners to build the vertical and what we understand about that broader market is that they need scale and what this project offers is scale.”
Walking about the site, just a year on from its public opening, it’s clear the Sunshine Coast’s new CBD is starting to take shape.
Plus, one of its most significant attributes – an underwater technology cable that provides the fastest internet connection to Asia from the east coast, as well as supercharged data connectivity to Sydney – is now also complete.
Mr Knaggs said the pandemic had not caused any major impact on the multibillion-dollar project, especially now that many companies were looking for more affordable commercial centres than the state capitals.
“It’s been gradual, incremental, and it’s just, in a sense, timing that’s brought all this crescendo together at this time,” he said.
“The entry price really is nowhere near what you would see in downtown Pitt Street in Sydney or Eagle Street in Brisbane and with pressures in those markets, people are starting to look further afield.
“It’s the notion of distributed hubs, and potentially seeing how commercial investment, built form and demand for services and placement of staff and personnel might be distributed.”
The city centre’s inaugural building, Foundation Place, is set to be completed in September, with construction of the Habitat Development Group’s $83 million Market Lane Residences now also under way.
The residential development will feature 146 two and three-bedroom apartments elevated across 14 levels over two towers, as well as six small-office-home-office (SOHO) townhouses and retail on the ground floor.
The new city hall will include council chambers, retail spaces and office accommodation for about 600 council staff when complete in 2022.
The 10-level, 21,500-square-metre building has a five-star NABERS and Green Star rating target and will be a regional A-grade commercial building.
“Council understands the importance of construction projects proceeding at this time to build momentum in the economy and provide local jobs when they are needed most,” Mayor Mark Jamieson said.
“The economic impact of starting construction on this project now cannot be understated, with a forecast 300 jobs likely to be established in construction and supply chain industries over the life of this project.
“This comes at an important time as the region starts to make its way through the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, by creating new employment opportunities for local tradespeople and suppliers.”
The Maroochydore city centre is expected to create 15,000 permanent jobs on the Sunshine Coast as well as inject billions of dollars into the local, regional, and state economies over the next two decades.
