CQ group pays $1.6 million to secures prime industrial spot
They're well placed to take advantage of a wealth of future projects
Business
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SAVVY local group of companies JRT have purchased a $1.6 million prime industrial property situated at the epicentre of a multitude of future CQ projects.
On October 17, JRT Group's offer successfully settled to purchase a vast 19.1 ha parcel of industrial-zoned land beside the Bruce Highway at 777 Yaamba Rd, Parkhurst.
The property was put on the market by Rockhampton's Knight Frank on behalf of Sibelco last year after laying dormant for the past decade after previous use as a cement plant by Cement Australia.
READ: Vacant Parkhurst land poised for major growth
Founded 14 years ago, Yeppoon based JRT Group has 160 employees, providing a comprehensive civil contracting service, supported by maintenance capabilities, labour and equipment hire and resource procurement.
Proud to unveil the purchase, JRT Group general manager James Gallagher said it wasn't just the enormous size of the block with its existing zoning and infrastructure that was the drawcard.
"Our main reason for acquiring it was just the consolidation of a couple of our businesses that we have already in Rockhampton," Mr Gallagher said.
"FSA (Freight Solutions Australia) transport business and Absolute Waste, a skip bin company, we also have businesses at Gracemere, we have a land fill there and we also have a quarry out at Bouldercombe.
"We're reasonably invested within Rockhampton."
He could recognise the growth potential of the Parkhurst location with 450m frontage to the soon-to-be duplicated Bruce Highway in Rockhampton's "growth corridor", close to a planned massive Stockland residential estate.
"We believe that will kick off next year, there'll be a thousand-plus lots just down the road, so it will be access to a good workforce here," he said.
"We'll masterplan the site here and work through the opportunities of what other businesses can be brought here to create jobs."
Added to this, the property was centrally located, a 20- minute drive away from home base in Yeppoon and next to the proposed Rockhampton Ring Road project, allowing ease of access to Gracemere across the third bridge once the project was completed in the mid-2020s.
Their new property would also help the JRT Group be in close proximity to work generated by the Capricornia Correctional Facility expansion, the two upgrades to the Shoalwater Bay Training Facility, the increase in mining activity, as well as a raft of planned road upgrades including the Northern Access duplication, Rockhampton Ring Road, and the Rockhampton-Gracemere duplication.
"It's a great transport and logistics hub," he said.
"Also with the coming increase in land disposal rates, there's going to be a need for more resource recovery and recycling centres.
"We thought that this site lent itself to those opportunities, particularly with the old infrastructure and the need to recycle and renovate it."
Mr Gallagher wished to assure the people of the Capricorn Coast that they would continue to base the head office for their civil business, JRT Civil, in Yeppoon.
Presiding over the sale, Rockhampton's Knight Frank principal Neale Crow said JRT recognised it was a good opportunity for the future, beating a number of interested southern buyers to the punch with their offer.
"JRT, through their group of companies, have the expertise needed to develop a site like this due too their diverse capabilities. look after a site like this with such great infrastructure on it," Mr Crow said.
Originally published as CQ group pays $1.6 million to secures prime industrial spot
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