Aussie family hit property pay dirt with sale to developer

An Aussie family has hit a multimillion-dollar payday on their coveted block after years of holding off developers.

The property is like a green island in a concrete jungle

A family who held off developers have hit property pay dirt, selling a deceased estate for $11 million.

Described as the “last remaining development site” in Eight Mile Plains, a fast-growing suburb just 14km from the Brisbane CBD, the deal was secured by Ray White Robertson agents John Heng and JJ Macalino.

Mr Heng said the 1.21ha property was owned by the children, whose parents passed away a few years ago.

“They held it for a few years,” Mr Heng said, adding they had previously had offers around $8 million.

“It is under contract subject to development approval, which is in its final stages now.

“Initially the DA was for 18 homes but they (the developer) were able to put in for 26 houses.”

77 Gaskell Street, Eight Mile Plains

A DA submitted by Saunders Havill Group on behalf of developer SEQ Developments 9 Pty Ltd to the Brisbane City Council shows an application was first made in August last year for 26 house sites ranging from 300sq m to 600sq m.

PropTrack data shows that for every house listed for sale in Eight Mile Plains there are, on average, 1644 interested buyers.

The median house price in Eight Mile Plains is now $1.5 million, up 14.5 per cent in 12 months, 66.7 per cent in three years and a mind-blowing 100 per cent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

“Without doubt this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the largest and best remaining land sites available in this established and very popular neighbourhood,” the listing says.

“Accessible from Gaskell Street, and backing all the way to Bordeaux Street, which runs directly behind, this enormous 1.21 hectare (12,100sq m) site is an absolute rarity and offers amazing development potential.”

MORE: Mystery buyer snaps up Lleyton and Bec Hewitt’s glam retreat

$45,000 buy: Is this Australia’s cheapest house?

‘Eyesore’: Abandoned mansion tops most-wanted list

It is surrounded by houses

Aerial listing photographs show what appears to be a solid single-storey brick house in an area deemed an emerging community development zone.

It was first listed for sale by expressions of interest in November 2022.

Bordered by residential houses, the block was described as “the perfect site for a subdivision offering sizeable parcels for house and land packages to be built by homeowners or project builders or it has the potential for a strata-titled complex (STCA) to be designed and sold off the plan”, subject to council approval.

“Offering all the bare bones for a lucrative future development, this big block cannot be ignored and we urge all serious developers and land bankers to call.”

And just 14km from the CBD

Mr Heng said they received around 20 offers, mostly from developers, with offers ranging from $8 million to $11 million.

“They did well holding out,” he said. “When we first went to market we were looking for about $8 million.”

Westfield Mount Gravatt is close by

The Queensland sale resembles a stubborn family’s refusal to give into developer in Quaker’s Hill in North Sydney.

A year ago the Zammit family caught world wide attention when they declined to sell their 20,000sq m parcel of land to developers who had purchased all the land around them.

The family had received offers of up to $50 million to sell their home to complete the new development named The Ponds, but turned them down.

The Zammit family's home in Quakers Hill. Picture: Channel 7

Instead the development went ahead all around them while their property remained intact.

However that hasn’t deterred some developers who continue to reach out to the family with offers reportedly to now be close to $60 million.

Last year, one of the property’s owners, Diane Zammit, 50, told news.com.au, that the neighbourhood used to be “farmland dotted with little red brick homes and cottages” where space was aplenty.

“Every home was unique and there was so much space – but not any more. It’s just not the same,” she said.

The property boasts a lush green lawn in stark contrast to all the sites around it and also a huge 200 metre driveway. But just metres away are rows and rows of carbon copy grey houses crammed into tight blocks as part of a major development.

Originally published as Aussie family hit property pay dirt with sale to developer