Magnetic Island shopping centre sells for $2.6m

A popular shopping centre and land holding in Nelly Bay has sold for millions to a Brisbane-based developer, continuing a strong run in sales in the region.

A popular shopping centre and land holding in Nelly Bay has sold to a Brisbane-based developer, continuing a strong run in sales of development sites on Magnetic Island, Ray White Commercial Townsville says.

In a separate deal, a large holding including the Picnic Bay Hotel and Marlin Bar in Horseshoe Bay, being marketed by Knight Frank Townsville, is understood to be under contract awaiting settlement to a group including local buyers.

Ray White has sold a 9025sq m mixed use holding at 53-59 Sooning St on the bay’s main arterial road where a Foodworks supermarket trades alongside four other tenancies.

The property where a popular restaurant, Saltwater, operates in a next door building and a dwelling behind the shopping centre in Warboys St are also part of the sale.

The holding, which generates net income of about $250,000 a year, sold for $2.6m.

Ray White Commercial Townsville principal Graeme Russell said the buyer planned to renovate the two-storey building and expand the centre on to adjoining land.

The Nelly Bay shops and surrounding land has sold for $2.6m.

“He has big plans. It’s an older style centre, probably built in the 1970s, so it needs some work. But the centre is very popular with the locals. It’s user friendly with good parking,” Mr Russell said.

The tenancies in the two-storey building include the supermarket, a cafe, liquor store and a three-bedroom apartment upstairs.

Mr Russell said it was one of six sites he had sold on the island in recent times including land near the Nelly Bay ferry terminal, a mini golf course in Sooning St and blocks in The Cove, also in Nelly Bay.

“I have sold six blocks in recent times which is probably more than I have sold on the island in the previous 10 years. There’s been a strong uptick in interest on the island and people are moving up from down south. Most of what I have sold is mixed use land,” Mr Russell said.

He said there had never been a better time to invest in the region with a resurgence in domestic tourism, mining and agriculture supported by a dramatic improvement in beef and commodity prices.

Also, a host of major projects in the region were either under way or completed including the Haughton water supply pipeline and multiple solar, wind, hydro and green hydrogen projects.

Originally published as Magnetic Island shopping centre sells for $2.6m