This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SOME 570 new homes will spring up in the Ipswich suburb of Ripley, after developer HB land bought a 49 hectare property that had been owned by the same family for over half a century.
HB Land is wholly owned Australian subsidiary of Singaporean listed group Ho Bee Land, having established their Australian head office in February. It is working through a development application and has consulted the Ipswich City Council and Economic Development Queensland.
The parcel at 357 Ripley Rd encompasses 48.76 hectares at the very northern end of the Ripley Valley, directly opposite the Hayfield Estate by Goldfields, and a Caltex and McDonald’s service centre.
To be delivered across 18 stages, the proposed development represents HB Land’s first foray into the Ripley area and will include a 5,047 sqm local park, 3.6 hectares of environmental parkland, and makes provision for a 5.1 hectare local sports park.
The sold in an off-market deal for $14,500,000. Ray White Special Projects’ Mark Creevey was engaged as a buyer’s agent to assist with the acquisition.
He said the transaction required the purchaser to subdivide the land to create a super lot of five hectares for commercial and medium density residential uses which will be retained by the seller and their joint venture partner.
Ripley Valley is planned to become one of Australia’s largest master-planned communities, with a proposed population of 120,000 people, and is near industrial and employment generators including Swanbank Enterprise Park, Amberley RAAF Base, Springfield City, Ipswich CBD, Citiswich (new Costco location), Ebenezer Industrial Park and Redbank Industrial estate.
The area is home to Okeland’s $$1.2 billion Providence community, while private developer Orchard Property Group late last year acquired a 34 hectare development-ready site in the heart of the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area for $11 million, with approval for a new masterplanned community with 426 lots.
The location is 40 minutes’ south west of Brisbane CBD, 15 minutes from Springfield city to the east, and 10 minutes to the Ipswich CBD.
HB Land Pty Ltd chief executive officer, Michael Vinodolac said the company’s land parcel represented an exciting opportunity for HB Land to acquire a strategically located development site in the fast-growing western corridor of south east Queensland.
“HB Land has an appetite for site acquisitions or JV opportunities and are actively seeking to purchase residential development land in the growth areas of South East Queensland, Melbourne and New South Wales,” he said.
