Olympics light the way to a decade of development: Don O'Rorke

As many as 250 high-end apartments could be developed on the site across two or three towers. Mr O’Rorke is factoring in not just the current buoyant conditions in south-east Queensland, but an Olympic glow which is already brightening the market outlook.

“We are extremely enthusiastic about Brisbane’s apartment market prospects for a number of reasons, including chronic lack of supply, very low vacancies, low interest rates and the intangible [benefit] of the forthcoming Olympics, which we think is going to provide a 10-year runway for property success in south-east Queensland,” he told The Australian Financial Review on Thursday.

The Games will deliver direct benefits in the local market, from the jobs created to build the infrastructure necessary to house the event, he said. But the intangible benefits are just as important.

“The intangible is around the confidence it gives residents of south-east Queensland and the spotlight it shines on us as a region and the flow-on effects of that are felt through tourism and other things.”

Vacancy rates in Brisbane’s private rental market are the lowest in nearly nine years, while developers are winning strong sales along the Gold Coast.

At least some of the demand in south-east Queensland is coming from Melburnians and Sydneysiders heading north, a trend which Mr O’Rorke expects to remain, along with the wider appeal of Australia to the global market. The rollout of vaccinations will help deliver the next boost in demand, he said.

“COVID has shown how good Australia is relative to United States or Europe and then, within Australia, Queensland and the south-east corner have particularly shone given the government’s handling of the pandemic,” he said.

Selling the 15,000 square metre site at 600 Coronation Drive was ASX-listed developer Sunland, which picked up the ABC’s former Brisbane home seven years ago for $20 million. Sunland once had high hopes for the project it dubbed Grace on Coronation, with 555 apartments and a striking Zaha Hadid design.

Colliers International agents Adam Rubie and Brendan Hogan brokered the Coronation site, as well as a separate site at 20 Archer Street that Sunland sold for $4 million to a local private developer.

“Both of these sites garnered exceptional interest from developers focused on riverfront, owner-occupier opportunities. We received more than 150 inquiries with eight offers to purchase,” Mr Rubie said.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast developer Craig Perry has officially put the 5225sq m beachfront Mykonos site – an aggregation of 31 titles – at Surfers Paradise up for sale.