DIY wars good news for south-eat Queensland bulky goods property sector: Midwood
Competition between Wesfarmer’s Bunnings and Woolworth’s Masters for the DIY market will deliver benefits for the south-east Queensland bulky goods property sector, according to the latest Midwood Report on the Queensland property market.
"The bulky good sector is set to begin its recovery this year," says the August quarter Midwood Report, authored by Bill Morris.
Both Bunnings and Masters plan to open around a dozen stores throughout south-east Queensland over 2012 and 2013.
Masters has plans for stores at Bremer, North Lakes, Upper Coomera and Stafford, while Bunnings has stores underway or planned for Arundel, Oxenford and Newstead.
Midwood also notes a number of other major retailers have plans to open bulky goods stores in the region in 2012 and 2013.
These include American bulk-buying chain Costco, which is looking to open its forth Australian store in Brisbane at Stockland North Lakes Business Park.
“Preliminary planning approval has been given for a 14,000-square-metre area with room for 750 car spaces on the seven-hectare space,” says the Midwood Report.
IKEA also announced plans to build its second superstore in Brisbane at the Westfield precinct at North Lakes.
"However, they are awaiting approval from the council," says Midwood.
A 27,660-square-metre Harvey Norman store is to be completed in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, and a 10,451-square-metre Gold Coast Homemaker Centre on Bundall Road has been has been proposed for completion in late 2013.
Recent bulky good store sales include a showroom on Old Pacific Highway in Oxenford, which sold for $4.7 million in June, with the sale negotiated by Pat Cavanagh and James Crawford from Colliers International Gold Coast.
The 1,700-square-metre building on a 3,853-square-metre site, anchored tenanted by Reece Plumbing and Ideal Electrical, last sold for $1.7 million in 2004, according to RP Data records.
The improved outlook for the bulky goods sector is not just confined to south-east Queensland, with A-REIT Charter Hall currently negotiating to buy a $230 million portfolio of Bunnings Warehouse properties across Australia in a sale-and-lease back deal.
Charter Hall may roll the Bunnings stores into a new unlisted fund with the backing of a major pension fund, reported the Australian Financial Review.
In its September spring forecasting report, BIS Shrapnel forecast an 18% rise in non-residential commencements in Queensland in 2012-13 led by a 37% increase in the value of warehouse commencements with four 40,000-square-metre developments currently anticipated to start.