A large parcel of land in Ipswich’s eastern suburbs has been earmarked for a 120-lot townhouse development

A large parcel of land in Ipswich’s eastern suburbs that was once owned by one of Queensland’s richest men has been sold and will become a townhouse development.

A LARGE parcel of land in Ipswich’s eastern suburbs that was once earmarked for a furniture retail centre will become a townhouse development.

After two years of negotiations a 1.82ha parcel of land at 19 McEwan St, Riverview, was sold to the site’s adjoining owner for $1.95 million.

Savills’ Ben Donnelly, who struck the deal, said there were plans for a 120-townhouse development and small neighbourhood shopping centre on the 2.5ha amalgamated site.

He said the property was previously owned by an entity connected to Super-A-Mart founder turned property investor and developer John Van Lieshout who bought it in 1995.

John van Lieshout

“He was going to build a Super A-Mart on the site but he built one at Oxley and then one at Ipswich and this became a bit of a redundant site,” he said.

“We took it to market in late 2016 and we had it under contract to an investor who tied it up subject to getting a bulky goods tenant over the line.

“That fell over and the fellow who owns it now had it under a put and call option and got a MCU (material change of use) which meant the property went from industrial zoned to residential and he settled on it.”

The property has a 240m frontage to McEwan St and is on the corner of Endeavour Rd and Station St, with convenient access to the Riverview railway station.

“Residents of the new community will benefit from a short commute to both the Ipswich and Brisbane CBDs, with a 10 and 26 minute drive respectively, or alternately a quick and convenient rail commute,” Mr Donnelly said.