Mackay CBD: Inside the proposal to buy back shopfront vacancies

Industry leaders have shut down reports the Waterfront PDA is being prioritised over the CBD with a new plan hatching to put an end to land-banking once and for all.

Amid suggestions the Mackay CBD is being neglected in favour of developing the waterfront, business leaders insist that is anything but the plan.

The once buzzing heart of the city is dotted with vacant shopfronts as people blame the Caneland Central shopping centre, a lack of parking and transport and not enough high density residential living for the exodus.

But in what was a show of faith the CBD could and would be revived, the region’s movers and shakers pitched solutions at a Think Tank that in turn produced key themes for a resurrection.

More residents means more dollars on the ground

“(The) number one (theme) was the city centre living, so increasing the residential population through a mixture of urban lifestyle, student accommodation and buildings that can be converted into boutique accommodation,” Mackay Region Chamber of Commerce member Scott Jamieson said.

Mackay Chamber of Commerce committee members Scott Jamieson and Vicki Smith in front of Ban-Na Thai Restaurant’s new premises on the corner of Victoria St and Macalister St, formerly the Whitsunday Hotel, in the CBD. Mr Jamieson said this was a prime example of positive transformation happening in the city. Picture: Lillian Watkins.

Mr Jamieson said more residents enlarged the customer base with the chamber to create a business case to encourage owners of vacant properties to get “off their bum” and stop “land-banking”.

Land-banking, or waiting until prices rose, has long been a thorn in Mackay Regional Council’s side with Mayor Greg Williamson previously stating it was the reality for about four in 10 properties in the CBD.

Who owns the vacant buildings

But who actually owns the vacancies hits a little closer to home with a Daily Mercury investigation revealing about half the empty shopfronts are registered to addresses in Mackay and the other half belong to investors in southeast Queensland and beyond.

There are more than 320 premises in the Mackay CBD from Milton St east to Brisbane St and from the Pioneer River south to Gordon St.

Of these, 74 were abandoned at this time last year; that figure has since reduced to just more than 60.

See the full list below.

The Lamberts Building along Victoria St is one of the more high-profile vacant eyesores in Mackay's CBD. It is registered to a Mackay address and was last listed for rent in June 2020 for an undisclosed amount. The owners bought the building in November 2015 for $580,000, opening Envy, Zebar and Gordi’s nightclubs before closing them shortly after. Picture: Heidi Petith

Notable Mackay-owned vacancies included the former Paper Chain Exchange bookstore along Sydney St, the property once housing Lone Star Rib House and Outback Jacks on the corner of Victoria and Sydney Sts, the abandoned nightclubs on Victoria St, and the Mackay Regional Council-owned former Retravision on Wood St.

The derelict heritage-listed building at 63 Victoria St in Mackay CBD was recently vandalised with two broken glass panels. The front door was also open and the steel fencing was ajar. Picture: Heidi Petith

Prominent empty premises with non-Mackay-based investors included Sunshine Television Network’s former 7 NEWS station along Victoria St, Imnau Holding’s heritage-listed old bank also on Victoria St, Birch Carroll and Coyle’s shuttered cinemas on Gordon St and Cairns-based Jadal Holding’s arcade once home to Rivers with both Victoria St and Gregory St frontages.

The former Rivers building fronting Gregory St in the Mackay CBD. The building belongs to Cairns-based investor Jadal Holdings. Picture: Heidi Petith

Mr Jamieson said while the Waterfront Priority Development Area would create a patronage spillover into the CBD and the city’s heritage would entice new residents, there were still not enough buildings to convert into higher-density living.

Investment pool to buy back empty properties

He said reversing the vacancies required bigger thinking, a “harebrain idea”.

Mr Jamieson said he was exploring a concept with Australian property developers for Mackay investors to buy back, fit-out and give fresh life to uncared for properties.

Investment would be split three ways starting with smaller players contributing a minimum of between $10-20,000 to reach a collective $20 million, the “top 1 per cent of wealth in Mackay” then pitching in the second $20 million and the bank then lending the final $20 million into the pool.

Could the investment pool be a strategy to get tenants inside the heritage-listed old National Australian Bank on the corner of Corner of Wood and Victoria Street? The building has two owners including Mackay-based Hamamas Haus and NSW-based Ioncall, the two sections bought for more than $2.6 million. Picture: Tony Martin

Mr Jamieson said it was ambitious but if it got off the ground, a separate professional property manager would oversee the project.

“I would love (the old Commonwealth Bank) to be the first building that we bought and (did) something with,” he said.

“I think it’s an absolute abomination to see what’s happened to it.”

Greater Whitsunday Alliance chief executive officer Kylie Porter said the funding pool was an “exceptional” idea.

“I think it’s a very good way and a very disruptive way of I suppose being able to control the quality and the product offerings that our city centre has,” Ms Porter said.

The global challenge

Ms Porter said communities across the globe, both in regional and in major metropolitan cities, all faced the conundrum of having to rethink and reshape their high streets, CBDs and city hearts.

“The way that we shop, work, live and play has all completely changed over the past two decades,” Ms Porter said.

Greater Whitsunday Alliance CEO Kylie Porter says the PDA was about transforming Mackay and making it relevant for this and future generations.

“What we need to do is reimagine what these precincts look like to make sure that they’re relevant for not just now but so they also have relevance into the future.

“I think we’ve got to really point out the (Waterfront PDA) is a 20 year vision, we are not looking to execute the whole project in the next one to two years.

“This is about measured use of public funds over a long period of time to be able to deliver real outcomes for the Mackay city.

“It’s not about finding $50, $60, $70 million dollars in the next financial year and dropping it one area.”

Council optimism

Mackay Deputy Mayor Karen May said recently procured federal funding for public realm works along the river would kickstart future developments in the CBD, with both the Riverside Link and CBD vital parts of the PDA.

Mackay Regional Council deputy mayor Karen May says many businesses in the Mackay CBD are doing well with hopes to continue the momentum with the rejuvenated Fifth Lane. Picture: Heidi Petith

“It’s not a matter of competition, it’s a matter of complementing what we can do as a council,” Cr May said.

She said while the council could not control commercial activity in the CBD, it had sent tenders out for developing its properties including the former Retravision building and attached carpark, the spare block next to the Pioneer Shire Council building on Wood St and the car park along Brisbane St.

This was alongside tenders for 6 and 8 River St in the Riverside Link section.

Cr May said with a shifting retail market, it was great to see how the city was reinventing itself, citing the success of professional office spaces, niche retailers and Wood St’s food and beverage offerings, which had extended onto the footpath after the CBD’s makeover.

The colourful Fifth Lane provides a sharp contrast to the empty Rivers building in Mackay's CBD. Picture: Heidi Petith

She said the colourful Fifth Lane would further complement this and encourage people into the city.

A change of scene

The Dispensary co-owner Damien Connors said Wood St had organically founded its identity as a cafe and restaurant precinct since his family moved a restaurant there 14 years ago.

“We established ourselves here, made ourselves Burp, it was a modern Australian dining experience.

“That created a bug, it gave people a reason to come down this end of Wood St.

“(Back then), it was mainly family-friendly restaurants.

“Since then there’s been a lot more cafes pop up in the city centre.”

The Dispensary co-owner Damien Connors, speaking at a think tank to revive the Mackay city centre. Picture: Heidi Petith

But despite their success, Mr Connors said hospitality in the CBD still had a long way to go and was throwing his support behind boosting residential numbers.

He said turning unused upstairs spaces into apartment living was a quick way of “getting runs on the board” and creating an inner-city hub.

“We are quite urbanised (in Mackay),” he said.

“People do have their locals around where they live.

“The hub that used to be the city centre, there was only one centralised location, which is very different to what it is now.”

He said there was also room for extra variety with Fortitude Valley’s James St standing out as an example, adding the Mackay CBD needed more night-time entertainment.

And he said the closure of the Gordon St cinemas was “no doubt” a loss to the city and suggested if it were to go, the site could become parkland with options for Eat Street-type vendors and movie screenings on the old theatre wall.

Must move with the times

Ms Porter, whose family started Porters Mitre 10 in the late 19th century, said while embracing the CBD’s history was important, so too was accepting the “visionary” and investment change that might be on the way.

She also urged looking past the high profile eyesores to support the local business operators who were putting their heart and soul into a revival.

“We’re very, very quick as a region to knock ourselves, if we want something different we’re actually going to have to walk that talk,” she said.

Mr Jamieson said the chamber would meet with the council in coming weeks to discuss the Think Tank’s key themes and to ask it to take leadership on what members viewed as council responsibilities.

“We certainly think it’s critical that industry plays a role and will have to help with the funding of it at some level,” he said.

Originally published as Mackay CBD: Inside the proposal to buy back shopfront vacancies