Brisbane-based syndicated property development company Metacap has received approval to build a $300 million master-planned lifestyle community on an untouched rural parcel of coastal land at South Australia’s Port Hughes.
Metacap paid $3 million for 170 hectares of land at Port Hughes two years ago.
It’s understood the Port Hughes development will effectively double the value of the developer’s active project portfolio since entering the over-50s residential resort market four years ago.
Port Hughes adds to Metacap’s lifestyle community developments in Ballina in northern NSW, and Burpengary and Yandina in Queensland, while lifestyle villages at Hervey Bay and Agnes Water are currently under construction.
It’s a slower development structure, but we found that more viable in these regional areas, which means it’s just accessing land that’s big enough for a price that’s much more economical than the major cities.
SA is getting older
South Australia (SA) has the highest concentration of older people on mainland Australia, with 630,500-plus people aged over 50, accounting for 37% of that age cohort nationally.
To help cater to the state’s growing demand, the lifestyle community at Port Hughes will build 460 homes over 15 years as part of a “build-and-hold” approach.
Together with the 160 homesites at Riverbend Hervey Bay and 190 homesites Riverbend Agnes Water – which have a combined cost of $280 million – the company’s development portfolio will grow to more than 800 residential sites in the over-50s space.
Construction of the first 30 of those homes is expected to start within the next six months, with the developer expecting to build an additional 30-plus homes annually.
Owning the assets
In light of SA’s ageing population and construction challenges in an area such as Port Hughes on the Yorke Peninsula, Metacap CEO Nick Jiminez advised ANZPJ that the company has opted to own the residential assets, operating and managing them, rather than selling to individual buyers.
“It’s a slower development structure, but we found that more viable in these regional areas, which means it’s just accessing land that’s big enough for a price that’s much more economical than the major cities,” Jiminez said.
“You typically pay five to 10 times more or even greater for a property of this size that we have in South Australia if it was close to Brisbane or close to Sydney.”
Building at a slower pace, adds Jiminez, means the company will be less affected by the low points in the construction cycle, while providing more time for the remote Yorke Peninsula area to grow.
When fully completed, the Port Hughes community will also have retail stores, restaurants, tourist accommodation facilities, a boutique hotel and parklands – many of which Metacap could tap other developers to deliver.
The community will also offer caravan and boat storage areas, an aged-care and medical facilities.
Image: An aerial view of the 170 hectares of land at Port Hughes earmarked for the master-planned lifestyle community development: Credit Metacap.
