THE Gold Coast’s suburbs with the tightest vacancy rates — Bundall and Broadbeach — are abuzz with activity in the office sector.
In Bundall, not only has 140 Bundall Rd sold to Zupp Property Group — a company with an excellent track record of repositioning assets — but a campaign to sell strata space in the building next door at 130 Bundall Rd is gaining momentum as well.
Both these building have been half empty for years, so it will be good to see them filling with tenants.
At the heart of the activity is a tightening vacancy rate in the central suburb — 9.4 per cent at last count — and a consequent lack of quality office space.
Jarema Pty Ltd, linked to the Kearney group, purchased 140 Bundall Rd for $5 million and has managed to offload the property for $7.05 million after 15 years of ownership. According to Knight Frank’s Mark Witheriff, Zupp will position the building to tenants looking for space a step below the A-grade Corporate Centre down the road. That centre will gain blue-chip tenant IBM in a move that will shake up the tenancy profile of Seabank — home to The Gold Coast Bulletin.
Bundall had, by far, the highest net absorption rate of office space on the Gold Coast at 2090/sq m for the six months to July.
That contrasts with Robina-Varsity Lakes, which had a net absorption figure of -5806/sq m for the same period.
It all adds up to an improving picture for Bundall, which as property expert Brett Delmege notes, has been losing out to suburbs such as Varsity Lakes with newer office space on offer.
Ditto for Broadbeach, the smallest office market on the Gold Coast, which as Prime Site noted last week, keeps gaining new tenants.
Three, comprising Mosaic Property Group, National Finance Service, and McNab, have signed for space at the former Commonwealth Bank branch on Albert Ave.
Alister Thomson, Gold Coast Bulletin 17 August, 2018
