Springfield launches ambitious plans to find partner

Springfield City Group is searching for a partner to help finish building the masterplanned community, including plans for thousands of new apartments.

Developers behind southeast Queensland’s booming Springfield region are now hunting for a partner in the $15bn masterplanned community.

Springfield City Group, which founded the city 29 years ago, has started a global search to find a development partner to help finish building Australia’s first masterplanned community since Canberra.

The development, known as the Knowledge Precinct, would become the key commercial area of the Springfield CBD with an expected future value of more than $15bn.

It would result in the Mater Hospital growing from 80 beds to 1200 and a full-scale University of Southern Queensland campus.

Springfield City Group said the precinct had approval for 1.22 million sqm of commercial space and 5340 apartments on 119 hectares of land.

The search for a development partner was first launched in early 2020 before COVID-19 put it on hold.

Chairman and Founder of Springfield City Group Maha Sinnathamby. (AAP Image/Richard Walker)

Springfield City Group Chairman Maha Sinnathamby said the initiative would “turbo charge” the development of Springfield’s CBD.

“This project represents a unique opportunity to join us in creating a legacy,” he said.

“Completion of a futuristic city, harnessing innovative thinking, will make a real, positive impact on economic growth and job creation in southeast Queensland.”

The region houses 35,952 residents, with the population projected to grow to 115,000 by 2036.

The global tender is expected to attract interest from Australia’s major developers and capital providers.

Springfield City Group Deputy Chairman Bob Sharpless said Springfield was a “truly unique project” only 25 per cent developed.

“With considerable established infrastructure, eleven schools, residential developments, a hospital, existing local and regional transport links such as highways and two rail stations, and much more, we are already well on our way to becoming an economic centre for southeast Queensland,” he said.