Former Bunnings Warehouse Rockhampton: Coles lodges plans for shopping centre and townhouses at Yaamba Road

Exciting new development plans have been lodged with Rockhampton Regional Council for the vacant former Bunnings site. Find out what’s planned here.

The former Bunnings Warehouse building in North Rockhampton is set to be transformed into a shopping centre with a new state-of-the-art Coles supermarket and specialty stores - all pending council approval.

The inside of the warehouse would be retrofitted to make way for a full-line supermarket.

The plans, which were lodged with Rockhampton Regional Council this month, also include 12 four-bedroom townhouses at the rear of the property facing Potts Street.

If approved, the new development would create 100 full time jobs.

The Yaamba Road building has been one of the most discussed properties in the community in terms of what should go there after Bunnings moved up the road in 2018.

The whole site, which has a full size of 2.66 hectares, was bought by a subsidiary of the Coles Property Group in 2018 for $9.9 million.

The warehouse building is 8,000 sqm.

The proposed development is spread over four stages.

Stage 1: Construction of Coles supermarket, foyer/ circulation, amenities and liquor store.

Coles supermarket: 3,950 sqm

Liquor store: 150 sqm

Amenities: 120 sqm

Stage 2: Specialty store and outdoor seating

Speciality store: 170 sqm

Stage 3: Extension to shopping centre (additional specialty) and showroom

Speciality store: 140 sqm

Showroom: 700 sqm

Stage 4: Construction of 12 x 4 bed townhouses

230 sqm per dwelling, 24 car parking spaces

The development application report, submitted by Reel Planning, states “there is a strong economic, community and planning need for a new full line supermarket to service north Rockhampton”.

The report goes on to state the proposal would “regenerate an untenanted, underutilised, but strategically located commercial site in north Rockhampton”.

There are currently two Coles supermarkets in Rockhampton, at City Centre Plaza and Stockland Rockhampton and there is a Coles at Keppel Bay Plaza.

If approved and built, it would be the first shopping centre to open in the region in more than six years, since Parkhurst Town Centre, which has Woolworths as an anchor tenant, was opened in November 2016.

“The proposed development will include a Coles which is underrepresented in North Rockhampton. It will provide choice and competition without compromising the viability of centres or supermarkets elsewhere,” the proposal report states.

The report notes the development is not a “large scale” shopping centre, but “there are only a handful of tenancies with one major tenant (Coles)”.

When asked for a comment about the proposal, Coles provided the following statement.

“We look forward to opening a new Coles in Rockhampton and providing the community with a state-of-art supermarket in the future,” a Coles spokesperson said.

“The application will be assessed over the coming months and we will be engaging with community members as part of this process.

“Rockhampton is a wonderful place and Coles loves being part of the community.

“This development will create around 100 full-time jobs for locals and we look forward to sharing more information as the development progresses.”

A fast-food drive-thru outlet in a new building on the southwestern corner of the site was approved by council in 2021.

This publication reported in May the tenant would be The Coffee Club.

Tenders for the construction of the development closed on June 10 and works are expected to start as soon as practically possible.

The new shopping centre and townhouses development application report states the “proposed development has been designed to integrate with the existing (fast food outlet) approval”.

Renders for the proposed townhouses. Photo: ThomsonAdsett

As for the residential stage of the proposal, the report states the townhouses will “result in improved residential amenity when compared to the previous use of the land”.

The proposed dwellings have been designed to be oriented with access to Potts Street, in line with the residential context of the street.

The townhouses are envisaged to provide more “housing choice and diversity in the housing market, while also reflecting the changing household demographics”.

“It would mean that people who want to live in higher density housing, have the choice to do so to without leaving this area,” the proposal report states.

It is also hoped the new development will discourage antisocial behaviour as there would be a public presence on the site at different times during the day and night and an increased surveillance in the area, making for limited opportunities for vandalism and nuisance.

The proposed plans also fall in line with the results of a Commercial Centres Study council commissioned in 2021.

The study noted there was a need for a new full line supermarket in the North Rockhampton catchment, there was no available land in the catchment zoned to accommodate one, and there were already three in Rockhampton Central Major Area and one in Parkhurst District Centre.

The application for the shopping centre and townhouses is now being assessed by council planning officers and has also been referred to the state government, due to the locality on the state-controlled road.