Green light for developer's shock $1.5b mega-estate sale

News.com.au

2 days ago

The developer behind a mega estate on the Gold Coast has listed its stake for sale, with the $1.5b project still a decade from completion.
Western Australia-based Perron Group, alongside Queensland businessman Ross Atkins, has appointed Ray White Special Projects (RWSP) and Melbourne-based B&S Land to jointly sell the development interests for SkyRidge Estate at Worongary.
Twenty years in the making, the site west of the motorway spans 297ha with planning approval for 3,500 dwellings. To date, 322 lots have been completed and settled.
SkyRidge is expected to be home to more than 10,000 people once completed in 2036.
The developer's exit, to be handled via an expression of interest campaign, creates an opportunity for new investors to take the reins on the project, which is sold as a 'going concern' with production underway on the next 300 house lots.
RWSP director Mark Creevey said SkyRidge was the city's largest development holding of its size.
'With all current planning approvals in place and all EPBC matters in hand there is little approval risk in developing the project which has a life span of a further 10 years,' he said.
'This is truly a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire the developer interests in a project of this scale, prestige, and strategic significance.
'SkyRidge is unmatched in terms of size and location; it is simply irreplaceable.'
SkyRidge has its own planning code with flexibility and includes provision for small lot residential, traditional home sites through to medium-rise apartment development and non-residential uses such as a neighbourhood retail centre, food and beverage opportunities, retirement and other commercial uses.
'The Gold Coast continues to face major undersupply in residential land and SkyRidge is uniquely placed to meet that demand, and its scale allows for delivery flexibility and long-term value creation,' Mr Creevey said.
The estate recently notched up its first $1m-sale of a 700 sqm block of land, while a Metricon display home was snapped up for a record $2.8m in September 2024.
B&S Land managing director Frank Nagle said the development offered planning certainty and delivery momentum, underpinned by its location in one of Australia's tightest housing markets.
'Queensland is the state to be now with all our major land clients buying here over the last five years, and with Victoria struggling and other states tapering off, this opportunity is perfectly positioned to create a lot of competition from Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators and Capital Partners,' Mr Nagle said.
'Very rarely does something of this magnitude and size come to market, and we expect significant national and offshore interest.'
The development interests for sale are entirely separate from ownership of the land on which the SkyRidge Estate is being developed.
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While Pacific View Farm (Queensland) Pty Ltd owns a small parcel of the land, the vast majority is owned by a deceased estate with a court-appointed administrator.
The owner interests in the estate and underlying land are not a part of the developer sale process.
This campaign marks the latest in a series of property interests the Perron Group has moved to divest since the company founder Stan Perron died in 2018.
Mr Perron built the family business into a multibillion-dollar operation spanning real estate, infrastructure, car dealerships, and iron ore royalties.
The family manages the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, one of the largest of its kind in the country which has ramped up its philanthropic activity over the past six years.