This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Devine has launched two developments aimed at two ends of the market – affordable housing in Adelaide and a luxury apartment and hotel development in Brisbane.
Yesterday, the Brisbane based developer purchased a 10 hectare parcel of land in Adelaide’s suburb of Munno Para.
The site has Development Approval for 213 lots, but Devine is seeking an amended DA to reduce the number of lots to 185.
Devine’s South Australian state manager Steve Weightman said the company is looking to develop a more family oriented community than had been originally proposed, increasing the size of blocks and adding parkland and more amenities.
He added the new estate would be of a similar quality to the attractively landscaped ‘Lakeside’, where buyers have been plentiful. Devine expects to sell the last remaining lots in ‘Lakeside’ within weeks, coinciding with the release of the as yet un-named Muno Para estate.
Weightman said there is pent-up demand for affordable housing in Adelaide, where vacancy rates are down to around 1.5%. Investors are very active, knowing they can achieve yields of 5.5% or higher.
Meanwhile in Brisbane, Devine proposed to develop a six-star apartment complex incorporating a boutique hotel in the Brisbane CBD, on its recently acquired Carrington site.
Devine acquired the 2,067 sqm Carrington site, on the corner of Alice and Albert Streets, earlier this month for $22.7 million.
Devine’s managing director David Devine said the hotel component will be the first luxury hotel to commence construction in the city for over a decade.
He added the company would build a luxury hotel of between 120 to 150 rooms as part of its $425 million development planned for the site.
Devine has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels to identify the most appropriate hotel operator.
JLL’s chief executive of Asia Pacific David Gibson said Devine’s proposed development was well-timed, with Brisbane enjoying record tourism demand.
“Brisbane’s hotel market is the strongest in the country with existing hotels recording occupancies of 80.4%. The average room night rate rose 7.3% to increase Revenue Per Available Room by 8%.
“For the past five years, Brisbane has been the star performer of all Australian capital cities and is poised to continue to enjoy strong trading conditions,” Gibson said.
Devine is planning to construct between 70 and 90 residences with prices starting from $2 million to $12 million.
Devine has appointed renown Queensland architect Bevan Lynch, executive chairman of ML Design, to co-ordinate an international design competition for the project.
Subject to obtaining Brisbane City Council approval, the development is proposed for completion in the second half of 2011 and have an end value once developed and sold exceeding $425 million.
Earlier this week, Devine reported after tax profit of $6.98 million for the half-year ended December 31, 2006 derived from revenue of $241.28 million.
Whilst the result is 34.7% down on the corresponding period for 2005, it reflects an improvement on the profit guidance provided to the market on 21 December 2006.
Devine has declared an interim dividend of 4.0 cents per share fully franked, which was inline guidance issued in December.
A final dividend of 4.0 cents per share is expected to be declared maintaining the full year dividend at 8.0 cents per share fully franked.
Assuming shareholders approve the proposed placement of shares to Leighton Holdings Limited, the injection of $95.6 million of new equity into Devine will result in a material improvement in the company’s gearing levels.
Devine remains on track to exceed the $18.9 million net profit recorded in 2005/06.
Australian Property Journal
