by Mat Cosgrove.
Some of you may be asking yourself, 'why Toowoomba?'. Let me fill you in.
Firstly, a bit of background about the city itself.
Toowoomba City
The Market
Toowoomba is experiencing unprecedented development. Mayor Paul Antonio said in October 2014: "As a major service centre to the surrounding rich agricultural area and the burgeoning
Surat Basin, Toowoomba is well placed to become a real powerhouse of the Queensland
economy". (source: www.hotspotting.com.au, 2015)
Overall Toowoomba is experencing more then 10 billion dollars in projects into the future, securing a good short term, mid term and long term outlook for the area.
Toowoomba has seen very good growth in the past 18 months (roughly 16% up to May 2014) (source: REIQ, 2015) however that trend is set to continue with 4 billion dollars worth of projects underway now, 2.3 billion waiting commencement and another 4.1 billion proposed.
Toowoomba is a unique market where the city has seen continual growth over 10 years. We refer to these property markets as stayers.
Nicely summed up, Toowoomba presents the following opportunity:
Affordable House Prices + Multiple Industries + Infrastructure = Growth
Vacancies
Vacancies, according to www.sqmresearch.com.au, has been below 3% for the past four years and is currently 3.0% in the Toowoomba postcode (4350).
The Projects
Some of the key projects in the area are the following (you can google each of these for further information):
|
Project |
Amount ($) |
Jobs |
Status |
|
Toowoomba Range second crossing |
1.1 to 1.7 Billion |
3800 direct jobs for construction |
To begin in late 2015 and predicted to be completed by end of 2017 |
| Bulli Creek solar power farm | 1 billion | Has the power to supply power for 75,000 homes. | Approved by council in february 2015. Work to begin in 2016 |
|
Grand Central/Garden Town Shopping centre re development |
500 million |
1500 jobs during construction, 1000 ongoing jobs after |
Construction started in November 2014 and is due for completion in mid 2017 |
| Bunnings | 42 million | 380 construction 150 operational |
Approved by council in April 2015 |
| Allied Mills redevelopment, Ruthven St & Chalk Drv | TBA | Old flour mill to be transformed into a precinct of hotels, shops, cafes and apartments. | Proposed. Site purchased for 2.8 million in april 2015 |
| Wilsonton Shopping centre | 50 million | existing buildings will be combined into 1 building with cinemas and a Kmart | under construction |
| Toowoomba Convention centre | 300 million | TBA | Proposed |
| Rosemount Downs Retirement Village, Glenvale | 80 million | 153 home retirement village, country club and sports facilities for over 55's | Approved by TCC in August 2013 |
| waterpark | 56 million | TBA. A park that includes waterslides is proposed. | Proposed for south toowoomba |
| Surat Basin inland Railway | 1 billion | 1000 construction jobs 45 operational |
Approved. Toowoomba to Galdstone railway link approved in 2010. QLD state government passed enabling legislation for this to proceed in november 2012. |
|
Inland Railway project |
4 billion |
Includes roughly 200km of greenfield track and 150km of upgraded track around Toowoomba and its surrounding areas. Jobs are estimated around 300 to 400 during construction. |
Construction to start late 2015 in priority areas |
| Toowoomba Range rail infrastructure upgrade | 50 million | Two new rail passing loops to be built at Harlaxton and Ballard | Approved - aimed at servicing agriculture |
| InterLinkSQ, intermodal terminal and industrial precinct |
160 million | A rail precinct with grain storage and loading facilities in the Toowoomba Enterprise Hub. | proposed |
|
New Acland Coal project stage 3 |
1 billion |
- 260 jobs during construction - 435 jobs during operations |
Begin sometime in late 2015 or early 2016 |
|
FKG meat processing plant |
80 million |
- TBA |
Development application in council 2015. Plans are to have approved and start construction in 2016. |
|
Toowoomba Railway Parklands Priority Development Area |
TBA – |
TBA – |
includes a mixture of commercial, industrial, retail and residential land uses and also incorporates a number of places of state and local heritage significance over a 50 Ha site right next to the Toowoomba city centre. |
|
Witmack industry Park |
80 Million |
It is estimated once fully completed, companies occupying this land will employ up to 12,000 people. |
Completed. Stages 3 and 4 have just been placed onto the market. With stages 1 and 2 70% sold. |
|
Brisbane West Airport (wellcamp) |
300 million |
Completed |
Toowoomba City is an area within SEQ that will offer opportunities for near term, mid term and long term future for any investor. With a good size population, multiple industries and infrastructure being implemented for the foreseeable future the city is a stayer and as this is the case Investigate Property aim to find the best properties on the market for all potential clients.
With the majority of development sites we are sourcing under $400k to purchase, and with the cost to build a unit generally under $150k, Toowoomba also offers an affordable opportunity for investors.
Mat Cosgrove is available to answer any questions you may have regarding the Toowoomba market. More on Mat and how to reach him can be found here.
2022 Update. We all know about flooding, but did you know that damaging water can get you from both directions? Read this article to see if
you're safe.
Read More
Brisbane is seeing a burst in infrastructure activity not seen for considerable time, and it all culminates in here and now being the time
to invest! Continue reading for a detailed but far from exhaustive list.
Read More
TLPI’s are starting to play a larger role when it comes to buying and developing properties in Brisbane, but you can be excused if you do
not know what one is, or have never looked at one before. However, it is very important you know about TLPI’s.
Read More
Let's face it; agents can get rather creative with their real estate marketing. After all, no matter what the property is, where it is or how bad it is, it is their job to sell it! Let's take a look at what some of their words 'may' actually be saying.
Read More
