Developer Okeland looks to sell Providence masterplanned site at South Ripley for about $200m
A 700ha masterplanned community for up to 50,000 new southeast Queensland homes is on the market and there are expectations it could sell for $200 million-plus.
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The largest masterplanned community in an emerging growth corridor west of Brisbane is on the market.
Perth-based developer Okeland Communities, together with its investment partner, has launched an expressions of interest campaign for the sale of the Providence masterplanned community at South Ripley, west of Brisbane.
The decision to proceed with a the campaign followed an extensive review of the company’s project portfolio and a desire to diversify its interests. There are expectations the 700ha property near Ipswich may sell for more than $200m.
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Providence is around three times the size of Brisbane’s CBD and it’s the largest, most-advanced masterplanned community in Queensland’s largest Priority Development Area which will ultimately be home to 50,000 new dwellings and 120,000 people by 2045.
The Providence project was conceived 17 years ago by Okeland’s late founder David Shephard and is now managed by his sons Cameron and Adam Shephard.
Cameron Shephard said the company and the family retain a strong affinity to Providence and the decision to pursue a possible sale had been difficult.
“While a range of options has been considered, in the context of our overall portfolio diversification strategy, we have decided to pursue a sale of the balance of the project,” he said.
“We believe it is time for someone else to become the custodian of the Providence vision and allow the founders to reinvest in future communities around the country.”
Providence has benefited enormously from the huge amount of infrastructure spend in the Ripley corridor by both federal, state and local governments, including the $4b billion Ipswich Motorway, the $646m Springfield Rail Extension and the $335m Centenary Highway extension.
More than 1300 families now call Providence home with a further 6000 homes to be completed over the next 20 years.
On completion, the community will include more than 200ha of open space and parklands, a major retail town centre, a commercial precinct, four schools — two of which opened in January 2020, a health and wellbeing hub and a sport and recreation precinct.
Biggin & Scott Land’s Frank Nagle and Andrew Egan along with Ray White Special Project’s Tony Williams and Mark Creevey have been appointed to manage the campaign, with bids due in September 2020.
A decision on the preferred bidder is likely to be made by late October 2020.
Mr Nagle said it was rare for an offering of this size to come to market.
“The most recent comparable transaction was The Grove Estate in Victoria which sold in 2018 for circa $200 million with almost 2000 lots,” he said
