GreenFort Capital buys two Queensland land lease sites
GreenFort Capital has doubled its small land lease development business with the acquisition of two regional Queensland sites, where it will develop communities with a combined end value of $500 million.
The alternative fund manager hoped to start construction work mid-to-late 2025 at Gowrie Junction in Toowoomba, for which it paid $15 million and the undisclosed-price Elliott Heads site near Bundaberg, GreenFort partner Adam Vaggelas said.
“It’s a challenge to find large parcels of land in good locations,” Mr Vaggelas told The Australian Financial Review.
“The locations all tend to be tree- and sea-change in focus for us. Half [of our customers] will be local buyers. Half will be migrating from other locations.”
The acquisitions take GreenFort’s land lease pipeline to four communities and about 1040 homes, putting it on the way to its target of 5000 over the next five to seven years in its Liven Communities platform.
But it aims to balance exposure to that sector, which could account for between one-third and one-quarter of its total housing, with others including retirement living, which it operates under the Reside Communities brand; build-to-rent under the Canvas Living name; and specialist disability accommodation, which it has developed with Australian Unity.
GreenFort acquired its latest land lease site in June in Gympie in the Greater Sunshine Coast region, paying $3.55 million for two adjacent sites.
Construction is already under way at its first community, Liven Beach Road in Hervey Bay, while civil works on the Gympie site, named Liven Willow Rise are due to begin this quarter.
The newly acquired 25-hectare Gowrie Junction site in Toowoomba can accommodate 422 land lease dwellings, while the 14.8-hectare site at Elliott Heads near Bundaberg – part of a master-planned South Beach development – comes with approval in place for 328 homes.
The Gowrie Junction site will have two- and three-bedroom dwellings on larger-than-average lot sizes with access to two community recreational facilities. Located on the corner of Gowrie-Birnam Road and Hayden Road, the site benefits from expansive private green space and offers a scenic valley outlook.
The Elliott Heads community, 200 metres from the oceanfront, on the corner of Welch Street and Breusch Road, will feature two and three-bedroom homes and resort-style facilities including a lounge, cafe, bar, cinema, gymnasium, pool, bowls green, BBQ areas, tennis and pickleball courts.
In a report on the sector last year, consultancy Chadwick forecast that over the 20 years to 2041 the land lease sector would rise from a 1.62 per cent penetration of the population of people aged 50-84 with 82,000 homes to a 2.3 per cent penetration with 162,813 homes. That implied an annual development rate of 4041 new homes, the report said.
