Fast food fuels commercial growth on the Gold Coast

FAST-FOOD outlets are spreading like wildfire on the Gold Coast with investors and developers increasingly drawn to the assets.

Fast-food outlet Carl Jr is opening at Hope Island Marketplace. From left are Bansal Group’s Premnath and Gaurav Bansal and Shawn Kerr. Picture Mike Batterham

COMMERCIAL assets on the Gold Coast with fast-food or quick service restaurants remain a strong draw for investors and developers with a number set to open over the next

six months.

The spread of quick-service or fast-food restaurants on the Gold Coast shows no signs of slowing with the booming north leading the way.

Pimpama City will have KFC, Hungry Jack’s and Subway outlets when it opens later this year while a Carl’s Jr is set to open at Hope Island Marketplace in December.

An Oliver’s Drive Thru is also due to open later this month at the Pacific Motorway Service Centre off Exit 54 at Coomera.

Fast-food outlet Carl Jr is opening at Hope Island Marketplace. From left are CBRE’s Rudi Scutti, and Bansal Group’s Premnath and Gaurav Bansal and Shawn Kerr. Picture Mike Batterham

Savills’ Peter Tyson, who is marketing the Red Rooster Centre at Burleigh, said assets with fast-food outlets as tenants are popular with investors for two reasons.

“Firstly, casual dining is becoming a mainstay in the country, and it is a growing market as a retail sector,”

Mr Tyson said.

“These are household names and national brands.”

American fast-food outlet Carl Jr is opening up a store at Hope Is Marketplace at the end of the year. Picture Mike Batterham

He said the second reason is because freestanding outlets are more “digestible” for investors.

“Many investors or self-managed superannuation funds have the capacity to spend $3 million to

$10 million — that will let them buy

a freestanding fast-food asset.”

Mr Tyson said the Red Rooster Centre, at 3-5 Classic Way in Burleigh Waters, is attracting strong interest during the marketing campaign.

He said most inquiries have come from domestic private investors from southern states.

Gaurav Bansal, of Bansal Group, which owns the master franchise rights for Carl’s Jr in Queensland, said his business is planning to roll out 20 Carl’s Jr stores in Queensland.

He said he chose Hope Island Marketplace because of its location within easy reach of a number of affluent suburbs, including Helensvale and Paradise Point.

American fast-food outlet Carl Jr is opening up a store at Hope Island Marketplace at the end of the year. Picture Mike Batterham

“What we are doing is putting in one for every four or five suburbs,” Mr Bansal said.

“Rather than having a stand-alone restaurant next to a service station, we prefer to be in a shopping centre anchored by a supermarket.”

Lennon Lin, whose Austin Property Development company is building Hope Island Marketplace, said Carl’s Jr is set to become an important part of the tenancy mix.

“Carl’s Jr is one of the largest burger chains in the US and it is being very well received here in southeast Queensland,” he said.

“Our team decided that it is the right brand to anchor the fast food part of the centre and we worked extensively with Gaurav Bansal and his team to find an optimal design.”

The leasing agents for Hope Island Marketplace are CBRE’s Rudi Scutti and Ashley Moffat, of LJ Hooker Commercial.