Innisfail Fitzgerald Esplanade application to convert childcare centre into cafe

An abandoned and decaying Esplanade childcare centre which has been an unsightly reminder of a difficult economic climate could soon be home to an exciting new business.

AN ABANDONED and decaying Esplanade childcare centre which has been an unsightly reminder of a difficult economic climate could soon be home to an exciting new business.

Raine and Horne Innisfail real estate agent Michael Skuse has lodged a development application to convert the abandoned centre at 49 Fitzgerald Esplanade, Innisfail, into an office space, and an eatery with proposed alfresco dining on the edge of Johnstone River.

If the application, currently on public notification, is successful, it would form part of the town’s economic revival which has included renovations at the Cane Cutter hotel and property baron Tom Hedley’s purchase of the Imperial Tavern, as well as professional services such as lawyers establishing new offices at Innisfail.

Mr Skuse said the former childcare centre appeared on his radar when he was searching for a new office space for Raine and Horne.

Application documents showed Mr Skuse planned on allocating about 78sq m for the real estate agency’s office, and with a dividing wall, about 250sq m for the kitchen and dining area of the proposed cafe.

“You can just see it’s starting to turn in Innisfail. There’s a demand here, we’re seeing it with our properties being on the market for five years when I got here, to now selling within weeks,” Mr Skuse said.

“With the growth in Cairns, and the move towards the southern corridor of Cairns, Innisfail already has all the infrastructure and I think we’re going to see a real boom here because the drive from Innisfail to Cairns is about the same as the (Cairns) northern beaches to the city in peak hour.”

Mr Skuse said he would only be developing the cafe premises, but wouldn’t be operating it himself.

Originally published as Innisfail Fitzgerald Esplanade application to convert childcare centre into cafe