Jinding goes beyond the fringes in $70m site spree

The company is making strides in building up a national operation at a time when industry conditions remain tough.

Jinding CEO Jay Song and general manager of developments Andrew Ashwood.

Developer Jinding is extending its national footprint and has snapped up four new sites in South Australia and regional Victoria for $70.1m in total, taking it well beyond its base in Melbourne’s growth areas and the Gold Coast.

The company purchased sites in Mount Barker in SA, Tatura near Shepparton, Dennington near Warrnambool and Broadford north of Melbourne. All up, the buying spree gives it land to develop more than 1200 lots with an end value of about $680m.

Jinding general manager of developments Andrew Ashwood said the acquisitions were part of a strategy to diversify the company’s pipeline and manage the risk of market downturns.

“These sites are all strategically located in growth regions underpinned by strong employment, industry and population growth. The delivery of new housing, and the associated critical community infrastructure we bring, will contribute to the sustainable growth of these areas and long-term resilience,” Dr Ashwood said.

“While we always want to be focused in Victoria, it makes good business sense to not place all of your eggs in one basket. The acquisition of these four sites further diversifies our holdings geographically, strategically positioning our portfolio for the next market cycle,” he said. “While conditions in some markets remain challenging, our focus is on delivery and positioning the business so that it continues to be resilient through future cycles.”

Jinding’s acquisitions include a $110m, 43ha site at Tatura, with capacity for 400 residential lots, green space, wetlands and local parkland. Jinding is working through a PSP process with Greater Shepparton City Council. A $140m, 41ha riverfront site on the corner of Shannon and Coglans Rd in Dennington has approval for 460 lots.

It also bought a $110m, 22ha site at 20 Bradfield Lane in Mount Barker with capacity for 350 lots, parklands and more. The largest is a $320m, 136.9ha site at 879 Broadford-Kilmore Road, which will be the first development under the Broadford Structure Plan with capacity for 680 lots.

An artist impression of a play area planned for The Patch, Jinding’s Wollert project.

The latest purchases took the value of Jinding’s pipeline to $2.3bn, adding to its current projects, The Patch in Wollert, Broadstead in Kilmore, Harriott in Armstrong Creek and its Octave development in Junction Village, which is near completion.

In August, it also launched Dunhelen in tightly held Greenvale with about 400 lots aimed at downsizers, growing families and first-home buyers wanting to stay in the ‘Toorak of the north’. Dr Ashwood said while the Melbourne market was challenging, land releases showed there was ­demand.

“People are keen to get into the market, and they are buying – it’s just that many purchasers need a signal to move forward.

“We saw sales significantly jump in April before costs increased on May 1 with Victoria’s building code changes,” he said.

“There are also catchments where there has been very little supply for a long time.”

Dr Ashwood said Jinding’s hunt for new sites would see it focus on land that demonstrated strong fundamentals for compelling returns in SA, Victoria and Queensland.

“By being willing to look outside of only fringe growth areas we are harnessing the success of the regional markets that experienced exponential growth throughout the pandemic, and continue to strengthen.”