7 days ago
Multi-million-dollar deal struck for Wises Farm in heart of Maroochydore
One of the last working farms in the heart of the Sunshine Coast has been sold for $93.5 million.
The 39-hectare block is just an eight-minute drive to the beach at Mooloolaba, and is bordered by Wises Road and the Sunshine Motorway.
The land was purchased by privately owned property development company QM Properties.
It was owned by Maroochydore's pioneering farmer Peter Wise.
Mr Wise did not live to see the day his family would be forever financially secure.
He died suddenly after being taken to hospital in January last year.
His family made the decision to place the land on the market following his passing.
The site had prior approval in place to build up to 570 dwellings, including retirement living, traditional homes on residential blocks, townhouses, and apartments.
A proud eighth-generation farmer, Mr Wise had for decades rebuffed approaches from dozens of developers.
Speaking with the ABC last year, town planner and close friend James Brownsworth said the work of the late farmer showed he "had a big-picture view of the highest and best use of the land".
Mr Brownsworth said Mr Wise was passionate about properly planning for growth on the Sunshine Coast.
"Beyond farming and his family, it was probably his primary passion, and you should see the paperwork he left behind around documenting and recording this and the milestones that he was involved in," he said.
"The primary focus that he and I had was to work out what the development footprint looked like on his land versus the bits that weren't to be developed."
Mr Brownsworth said they had nominated key items including roads, open space, and green linkages.
Mr Wise once ran a pick-your-own-fruit agritourism attraction on land where the Maroochy Boulevard and Harvey Norman Homemaker Centre were built.
Mr Brownsworth said Mr Wise had influenced much of the development of Maroochydore's CBD.
"Maroochy Boulevard absolutely, but earlier than that, Sunshine Plaza before it was Sunshine Plaza, road network planning, open space planning, defending his land from the unwanted impacts of urban development so he could continue to farm it," he said.
"It was his absolute passion, and his heart was always in the right place."
The Wise family is continuing the tradition of growing Buderim gold coffee on another property on the mountain using trees passed down by their ancestors.
Earlier this year, the family honoured Mr Wise with one final fig harvest using instructions scribbled in three notebooks left by Mr Wise.
Speaking with the ABC earlier this year, his wife of 59 years, Ivy, said her family's support had helped her adapt to life without her husband.
"I have a lot of family helping out. Without their support, we wouldn't be able to do the figs this year."
Mr Wise and Mr Brownsworth's families have declined to talk today, still taking in the enormity of the sale without him.
