Market Insights
CAIRNS RUNS HOT AS STATE DRIVES DEVELOPMENT UPSURGE
Author: Marisa Wikramanayakefri Urban Developer
To catch the trick when a magician is at work you have to avoid falling for the misdirection.
In much the same manner, while many in the property industry remain focused on the three capital cities of the eastern seaboard, others have made inroads by looking elsewhere. Cairns in Far North Queensland is just such a place. GOVERNMENTS DRIVE DEVELOPMENT Towards the end of the previous decade, the federal and state governments earmarked Cairns for major development, particularly its port, to boost industrial and tourism capabilities. Among the projects created was the Cairns Marine Precinct, with two new wharves and connections to services, off the back of funding that included $30 million from the state. The precinct expanded in-water maintenance options for Australian Border Force and Australian Defence Force vessels. A common user facility was then proposed as part of the precinct to bring maintenance, repair and overhaul service providers together. The Queensland and Federal Governments have each kicked in $180 million for the project, which will include a 5000-tonne ship lift, three hardstand areas, wet berths and two facilities to blast and paint vessels. In May 2023, the Queensland Government announced more funding—$39 million—for other projects in the precinct, which includes $27 million for upgrading roads and bridges to the common user facility and $12 million for upgrading existing facilities. But it wasn’t just the precinct that was key—it took an existing demand for services and housing, and accelerated it. “Like all major centres across Australia, Cairns is experiencing strong population growth off the back of international migration and a desire to live in lifestyle locations,” Cairns Regional Council planning director Ed Johnson says. This has prompted interest from a raft of Queensland developers, including Kroymans Developments, which is developing
The Queensland Government’s plan for the Cairns Marine Precinct from its business case in 2021.
residential projects around Mt Peter, about 16km south of the Cairns CBD. Meanwhile, by 2022, Nigel Satterley of Perth-based Satterley Property Group had become one of the big hitters in the city with his Smithfield Village project, 20km north of the CBD. This week news broke that the Smithfield Shopping Centre had changed hands for $138 million—another vote of confidence in the region.
84 – April / May 2024
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