Gold Coast's largest masterplanned community underway
The population figures of Pimpama “virtually doubled” between 2007 and 2012, according to the Gold Coast City Council, as the largest masterplanned community in the Gold Coast is underway by Mirvac.
With sales increasing at Mirvac’s Gainsborough Greens in Pimpama, and a $30 million Pimpama Junction Shopping Centre is near having all the stores tenanted with opening expected mid-year, the rapid growth is expected to continue. With Visit Gold Coast noting it to be the "last" truly rural area left on the Gold Coast, it's unclear whether this status is set to remain for long.
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Halfway between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, on completion there will be more than 2,200 homes, including over 15 hectares dedicated to community-focused fields, such as sporting ovals. Within the development, 65% is dedicated to greenspace, with no home more than 300 metres of a park, playground or recreation area - with 17 parks on completion. The heart of the development is the currently existing 18-hole Golf Course.
Community managed environment. Recreational facilities - swimming pools, tennis courts, gymnasium
Tipalea Partners, developers of the shopping centre, has six of the 21 retail spaces remaining in the centre, with tenants seeing the handover in May for fitouts. Trading should begin in mid-June.
Tipalea Partners’ managing director Scott Spanton said that they had initially planned to sell the asset once it was fully leased.
“However, we have decided to retain it as a key investment asset for the company going forward,” said Spanton.
“The amount of growth that has occurred in the corridor since we acquired the land in 2009 has been quite amazing and we believe that level of growth has a significant way to go," he said. Hutchinson Builders won the tender in May 2013.
A Woolworths Supermarket and 20 speciality tenancies will be in place, in what will be the only significant retail centre east of the M1 and north of the Coomera River.
Some of the tenants currently in the speciality shops include a pharmacy, Sushi Ho Ho, Brazilian Café, BWS, a medical and dental centre, My Barber, Hair Rocks, Bargain Mania, Zaza Kebab, Pimpama Bakery, Noodles, a Chinese restaurant, and Westpac and Suncorp ATM machines.
A real estate agency is being sought for tenancy, as are a pizza outlet, fish and chip shop, Indian restaurant and a major bank.
The state government has fast-tracked plans to build a new primary school, on Cunningham Drive North, for January 2015, a year ahead of schedule.
Gold Coast City Deputy Mayor, Donna Gates, said that building approvals in the area are up considerably, with renewed confidence after stronger tourism numbers were recorded this holiday season.
"Pimpama has already been confirmed as the future site for a district sized shopping centre and the new primary school, which will be adjacent to Pimpama State Secondary College, which opened last year, will provide further infrastructure to cater for this growth,” said Gates.
Meanwhile, Mirvac Queensland development director – masterplanned communities, Russell Berlee, said that there are already contracts on 65% of the homesites in the latest release – registered in late-November.
"In the last quarter alone we took 74 deposits, worth a combined total of just over $17 million," said Berlee.
"Interest in Pimpama is at an all time high, with buyers attracted by the location - mid way between the centre of the Gold Coast and Brisbane - the rural outlook, the amount and quality of new development underway and, at the same time, the relatively affordable prices,” he said.
Over the past three months, the majority of building approvals have been for home and land packages. Those priced between $420,000 and $470,000 have been especially popular with families and first time buyers.
Higher end demand is also said to be increasing, particularly for those fronting the Gainsborough Greens gold course – priced between $650,000 and $700,000.
Pimpama is home to Australia's only Zorbing outlet. It is 45 minutes' drive from Brisbane airport.