This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SINGAPORE-listed Ho Bee Land has spent $115 million acquiring residential development sites outside of Melbourne and in Queensland that it expects will yield over 1,000 lots, as offshore players show increasing confidence in diversifying beyond CBD apartments project.
The largest of the sites is on Mickleham, on the northern outskirts of Melbourne. The 45.61-hectare property is within the Craigieburn West Precinct Structure Plan area and close to Craigieburn town centre.
Ho Bee Land expects the site to yield 609 residential lots, a regional sports field and a government school.
It has made also made a pair of acquisitions in the sunshine state. In the Logan area, it has picked up 21.16 hectares in Park Ridge directly next to sporting facilities at Hubner Park, and is expected to yield about 284 residential lots and two commercial parcels totalling 1.49 hectares.
In the regional town of Gympie, Ho Bee Land has bought an 11.36 hectare site that is ready for development works to begin soon, and can yield 133 residential lots.
Ho Bee Land noted it provides affordable housing options relative to the nearby Sunshine Coast market. Regional locations have been a major contributor to house prices’ record rises nationally.
It said the projects “in line with the objective of the Group to focus on developing master-planned residential communities in Queensland and Victoria”.
Diversified developer Stockland recently added 140 hectares of land in Beveridge to its portfolio, north of Mickleham and next to its existing Cloverton community, for $125 million with expectations it will yield around 1,400 dwellings.
On the other side of Craigieburn, developer Peet Limited has picked up Core Project’s Mystique Estate in Wollert.
Ho Bee Land’s acquisition comes as offshore developers continue to expand their businesses beyond CBD apartments.
Chinese-backed developer Dahua Australia has stumped up $100 million for 41 hectares of land in Melbourne’s south east in August. In the same month, Yourland, backed by Japanese telco Nippon, bought a 12.3 hectare former pea farm in nearby Officer for $43 million.
