Singaporean billionaire swoops on mega Qld site for big housing play

Ho Bee Land is listed in Singapore where its executive chairman is Chua Thian Poh. He founded the company almost four decades ago and in recent years has led a strong push into Australia’s housing market. Its local subsidiary, HB Land, has bought the Elimbah landholding, about an hour north of Brisbane, a property which has approval for a housing estate with as many as 1400 residential lots.

More than 25 hectares has been allocated for commercial purposes and another 26 hectares for industrial land, in what could ultimately be a multi-billionaire real estate development.

HB Land’s chief executive Michael Vinodolac said the Singaporean developer will swing into action as soon as possible. The first stages of the project could be delivered within 24 months because of the site’s location and approval status.

“We remain very positive on the SEQ land market given very limited supply, strong interstate and international migration levels and relative affordability compared to high-density housing formats,” Vinodolac told The Australian Financial Review.

A substantial amount of green space and park amenity is slated for the project, Vinodolac said. As well, commercial development at the estate would create opportunity for local jobs, he said.

The acquisition comes at a time when house and unit prices across regional Queensland are up 16.1 per cent and 13.2 per cent, respectively, in the past 12 months, according to Ray White research.

HB Land has constructed housing estates already across Victoria and Queensland, and has two active projects in Ripley Valley Priority Development Area in Queensland’s Ipswich region – another high-growth area in the state.

The Moreton Bay property was sold by a syndicate led by Victorian-based developer Goldfields. It also sold a nearby 48-hectare, development-approved industrial site in Caboolture in August.

Goldfields opted to exit after receiving strong and unsolicited off-market interest for the landholding. It then decided to take the site to market, according to its national director of communities, Paul Cicchiello.

“Elimbah is a landmark site in one of South-East Queensland’s most significant growth corridors, and this transaction represents a strong outcome for Goldfields and our partners,” he told the Financial Review.

“We are proud to be transitioning a fully de-risked, development-ready site to Ho Bee Land, with key development approvals secured and external trunk infrastructure – including but not limited to water and sewers – being delivered.”

The sales campaign was managed by Ray White Special Projects Queensland’s Tony Williams, Mark Creevey and Matthew Fritzsche as well as Cushman & Wakefield’s Morgan Ruig and Mitch Taulelei.

Williams said demand for both housing and industrial development in the Moreton Bay region was enormous, which led to fierce competition among active developers in South-East Queensland.

“Particularly with the residential, there’s a fair undersupply in SEQ and an undersupply of existing stock on ground in the Moreton area,” he said. “Subsequently, developer demand follows consumer trends.”