Gold Coast commercial property: Record-breaking sale of Carrara warehouse built by Ron McMaster

It doesn’t look like much but this obscure industrial building is the Gold Coast’s hottest property, selling for an eye watering amount of money under record-breaking circumstances.

The Gold Coast’s post-Covid property boom is reaching beyond residential property to the industrial sector, with a 40-year-old Carrara building selling for more than $3.2m in just 44 minutes.

The Eastlake St warehouse, built by well-known developer Ron McMaster in the 1980s, sold for $405,000 above its reserve, with a record 113 bids made during the auction, which was conducted by Ray White Commercial Burleigh Group.

It comes just two years after it was previously sold.

Ray White agent Ryan Langham said the number of bids far exceeded the previous record of 71, which was set for a Broadbeach apartment.

A warehouse built in the 1980s by Ron McMaster has sold for $3.2m. Picture: Supplied

He said the average bid count was 17, with the average auction being eight minutes.

“With a record-breaking number of bids, prospective buyers tried every trick in the

book,” he said.

“There were definitely some strategies put into action and head games were played.

“With seven registered bidders, six of which were active, it was always going to be an

interesting affair.

“We are delighted to have facilitated the sale of this asset for the vendor.

“A $3m-plus sale price is testament to how the Gold Coast (commercial) market is outperforming the rest of the country.”

The site sold in a 44-minute auction. Picture: Supplied

The complex, which sits next to the M1 and close to Worongary, will earn its new owner more than $19,000 a year in rental income.

Fellow agent Travis Rayner said the interest in the site was unprecedented.

“I got goosebumps a couple times during all the excitement,” he said.

“We were even down to $500 bids at one stage before bidding took off again.”

Industrial land has long been at a shortage on the Coast.

A market outlook report by Colliers International released in 2023 showed there had been “an extreme supply-demand imbalance across all industrial product types on the Gold Coast” as land availability dried up.

The site is close to the M1 Picture: Supplied

It revealed that only 34ha of net land supply was available for purchase in Yatala, which equates to less than seven months of supply, given the average monthly take-up of around 5ha since the beginning of 2021.

City and political leaders in recent years have pushed to secure the relocation of major companies to the Gold Coast.

However, a lack of industrial land and available office space has hampered those efforts.

Despite this, the city’s population has continued to grow by more than 15,000 people annually, putting significant pressure on the city’s residential and rental markets, where vacancies have fallen as low as 0.1 per cent.

The Colliers report noted the population boom but described it as a positive for the industrial sector.

Originally published as Gold Coast commercial property: Record-breaking sale of Carrara warehouse built by Ron McMaster