Revealed: Gympie Bypass sparks major industrial boom, housing surge

Gympie median house prices have surged almost 13 per cent since the billion-dollar Gympie Bypass opened 12 months ago, and new industrial estates and developments are transforming the city.

When the billion-dollar Gympie Bypass opened to traffic in October 2024 it meant that for the first time in its history, the Bruce Highway no longer ran directly through the heart of the city that saved Queensland.

What that would ultimately mean for Gympie was hard to predict, though most models pointed to a prosperous future free of the pollution and congestion the highway brought with it, except of course for those businesses that relied directly on highway traffic.

In the 12 months since then, the Gympie real estate boom has shown no sign of slowing, with median house prices climbing almost 13 per cent in the past 12 months. People are moving to the region in their droves.

Land near the interchanges with the new highway are also booming, and it is likely a new industrial estate will be established near the Curra interchange. The first major development along the Gympie Bypass will be a multimillion-dollar service centre at the northern end of the 26km Section D.

Developer Capital Transactions Pty Ltd unveiled its plans to open the centre in an application lodged with Gympie Regional Council in November.

The first major development along the Gympie Bypass has been revealed with plans in the works to open a multimillion-dollar service centre at the northern end of the 26km stretch.

The company wants to build the centre at the western side of the Curra interchange, on a 15ha block squeezed between the Old Bruce Highway and the North Coast railway line.

The proposed centre includes the service station, four fast food outlets, and several warehouses and 119 parking spots.

The major industrial hub on the southern edge of Gympie is adjacent to the Flood Road and Woondum Road interchanges, and has undergone extraordinary growth during and since construction of the Bypass.

Blocks of land at the estate wrapped around Edwin Campion Drive have been the subject of 16 material change of use applications for new projects since the start of 2022, equal the total number of applications recorded between 2004 and 2021.

Among the new businesses to settle or reveal they are about to settle there are Pillow Talk, Silly Solly’s, Spotlight, Petbarn, and a mystery sports retailer.

More than 5300 new homes are on the horizon, with the state government announcing a $42 million funding injection for infrastructure to support that housing.

In early October 2025, a development application was lodged to build 53 new units on the old Bruce Highway in the centre of Gympie, adjacent to a Pacific GWM dealership near Cross St.

The Gympie council now has an opportunity to review and reconfigure the former highway corridor through the city for better pedestrian and cycling connections and to improve the overall liveability and sense of community in the town centre.

Thousands of cars vanished from the centre of Gympie with the opening of the Bruce Highway bypass of Gympie after four years of construction.

Mayor Glen Hartwig said Gympie was on the cusp of an exciting new chapter, and the Bypass had created a more liveable region for residents and generated new opportunities for economic investment.

“While the full economic impact of the Bypass is yet to be fully realised, its opening has created a safer, more accessible community for residents. With the heavy vehicle traffic diverted outside of the town centre, we have seen a great improvement to traffic flow and visibility in town, making it easier and safer for residents to move about their community,” he said.

Harnessing opportunities and strengthening partnerships with industry and government had already generated significant benefits for the future of the region.

“In recent years we have been working hard to forge a path forward for the region and harness our potential to support a growing population base, and the Queensland Government has taken notice, with a record investment in our community through the Residential Activation Fund.

Mayor Glen Hartwig said Gympie was on the cusp of an exciting new chapter, and the Bypass had created a more liveable region for residents and generated new opportunities for economic investment.

“With this record investment, we have a rare opportunity to explore new avenues for development that weren’t there before the Bypass was opened, like Curra at the northern end of the bypass. Here we see potential for not only new industrial development, but also an expanded residential footprint that could support Queensland’s population growth for generations to come.

“We know our best days are ahead of us and we’re keen to embrace positive change and partner with the community along the way.”

Businesses for sale across the region have a large representation from food, beverage and hospitality businesses, and to a lesser extent, retail and speciality businesses in the CBD.

The new highway alignment is designed to withstand a 1-in-100-year flood event, significantly improving flood immunity compared to the old route, which was prone to closure, isolating Gympie and disrupting the national freight network. This provides greater travel reliability for residents and businesses.

It’s now quicker and safer for residents to travel south, making the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane more easily accessible.

Some businesses directly benefited from the construction process, winning lucrative contracts, like All Coast Tyre Solutions, which provided tyre fitting and maintenance services for the project fleet, which enabled them to grow their North Coast reach, and employ additional staff.

“We utilised two specialists in heavy commercial tyre fitting, coupled with our built-for-purpose earthmover service trucks to support the large equipment used on the project, broadening our scope for future major projects in the region,” owner John O’Leary said.

Gympie Bypass sign.

“Originating in Chinchilla, before moving to the Sunshine Coast and diversifying our team in Gympie, this project has been significant for the business, and we are excited about more major works in the region in the future,” he said.

The Queensland manager of lead contractor CPB Contractors Vince Sanfillippo said:

“With a number of other regional projects in the works, including the new Bundaberg Hospital and the Paradise Dam Improvement Project in Central Queensland, as well as Defence projects in North Queensland and CopperString 2032 in North-West Queensland, our learnings and achievements from the Gympie Bypass will benefit these and future projects, not only

The Gympie Chamber of Commerce was invited to comment on the state of the region since the opening of the Bypass but has not to date responded.