Peet buys Strathpine site in Brisbane for $18.5 million

The group said previously it had been targeting land buying opportunities across Queensland, WA and South Australia, allowing it to stake a profitable position in improving markets with a low cost base.

The group could not yet comment on its plans for the newly acquired site at 84 Samsonvale Road, Strathpine, but its latest half-year strategy suggested a widening strategy of providing more medium-density homes such as townhouses.

The company’s latest acquisition, 20 kilometres north of Brisbane CBD, has a Next Generation Neighbourhood zoning under the Moreton Bay Regional Council planning scheme and has the potential to yield a residential subdivision, townhouses, apartments or aged care and retirement facilities.

The area is undergoing significant infrastructure investment, including the $950 million Moreton Bay Rail Link and a new Moreton Bay University Precinct.

‘Plenty of hidden value’

It is understood the group is lodging development plans for the rural farming site with the local council.

The acquisition in Strathpine follows last year’s acquisition of a 80-hectare property in Perth’s northern coastal corridor with plans to develop more than 1000 homes. The deal was funded by a new wholesale syndicate.

Earlier this year, Peet earned some reprieve after a share-price hit when contrarian investor Allan Gray said the company had “plenty of hidden value”.

Allan Gray says Peet is trading on a multiple of 10 times last year’s earnings, representing a 15 per cent discount to its net tangible asset.

Colliers International’s Adam Rubie and Brendan Hogan, who brokered the sale of the Strathpine site, declined to comment.