Stockland splashes out $210m on land lease portfolio

The property group has swooped has swooped on five land lease community projects in Queensland, picking them up from the Living Gems Group amid the housing affordability crisis.

Diversified property giant Stockland has swooped on five land lease community projects in Queensland, picking them up from the private Living Gems Group for $210m.

The listed developer has forged into the area as a low-cost alternative to traditional retirement, and it is firing amid the housing affordability crisis.

The deal covers four development projects at Beerwah, Burpengary East, Logan Village and Eagleby Heights, which carry development approvals, and an existing estate at Glenvale, Living Gems, where there is an opportunity for further development.

The deal is smaller in scale than original plans which could have seen the entire Living Gems operation trade. The focus of the deal is sites that can be quickly developed.

Building has kicked off at three of the estates, and Stockland expects that all the projects it is buying will be in development within 12 months, driving settlement volumes and generating incremental funds from operations from the 2025 financial year.

The portfolio will add about 1,280 home sites to Stockland’s land lease business. It both adds to its pipeline in southeast Queensland and builds on the Stockland Halcyon platform. All up, it takes the company’s portfolio to more than 10,500 home sites, split between 2,352 established home sites and 8,178 in pipeline.

“This strategic acquisition adds significant scale to our existing land lease development platform in SEQ, which is the deepest land lease development market in the country,” Stockland Communities chief executive Andrew Whitson, said.

“The acquisition of these five communities aligns with our strategic land lease growth plans, builds on our competitive strengths in masterplanned communities to generate quality recurring income, and leverages Stockland Halcyon’s proven track record of delivery in SEQ,” he said.

Living Gems CEO Adrian Puljich said the strategic decision to divest the Living Gems Toowoomba community and greenfield sites to Stockland would allow both companies to continue flourishing in the growing over-50s sector.

“We are confident Living Gems Toowoomba is in safe hands with Stockland, whose experience, strong cultural fit and proven track-record integrating and expanding Stockland Halcyon will ensure a seamless transition,” he said.

“We look forward to maintaining our strong relationship with homeowners in our eight retained Living Gems resorts, while continuing to innovate and bring new communities to the market, including across the four greenfield sites that remain under our ownership,” Mr Puljich said.

Stockland forged into the area in 2021, when it bought Halcyon Group for $620m, 17 years after joint managing directors Bevan Geissmann and Paul Melville opened their first gated over-50s community village.

That deal included the acquisition of 3800 sites across 13 land lease communities, made up of six established land lease estates, four in development and three in planning.

Stockland said in an April market update that Victoria was leading the national expansion of its Stockland Halcyon estates with four projects slated to launch in the state over the next year.

There were Stockland Halcyon communities – either established or in development – across Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Logan, as well as in Victoria.

An estate in the Melbourne suburb of Berwick was to be followed by projects in Clyde, in Melbourne’s southeast and Armstrong Creek, between the Geelong CBD and Torquay. More projects in Melbourne and in NSW and Queensland are also planned.

Stockland has had strong sales in over 50s land lease projects at a time when traditional house and land packages are under pressure.