ZUPP Property has unveiled plans to invest $100m over five years to build another nine buildings next to its futuristic office buildings in Ormeau.
The company, headed up by John Zupp, who turns 90 in April, bought the 7.327ha two-title holding at270 Lahrs Rd and 29 Eggersdoff Rd for $8.325m in 2014.
Two cylindrical abandoned buildings – a 2867sq m warehouse and a building with 1383sq m of laboratory space and 1907sq m of office space – were extensively refurbished and leased out as office buildings.
The space was released to the market in 2016 and is now fully occupied. The success of that project has spurred Zupp to develop the balance of its Ormeau land. The first cab off the rank is 1 Zupp Dve – a 3300sq m four-storey building due for completion in January 2022. Condev is the builder and has made progress digging out the basement despite rain affecting the timetable.
Zupp Property CEO Neil Ferguson said the estate would be called Interciti to reflect its position midway between Brisbane City and the Southport. “We have reports that put this in the top echelon of growth for the country,” Mr Ferguson said.“
It is a very community-minded precinct and growing all the time.“ The idea of people working near where they live is a big part of what Interciti is.” Mr Ferguson said the first building would contain 800sq m of technical or light industrial space.“ This is a combination not available anywhere else on the Gold Coast. We are raising the bar on quality and design at Interciti and the precinct will interest businesses and government departments that would previously only consider Brisbane.”
He expects corporates to take up space in 1 Zupp Dve and for it be 30 per cent leased by completion. The next project includes a building at 31 Zupp Dve at the Eggersdorf Rd entry. Acquisitions and development manager Tony Burchill praised the Gold Coast City Council for working closely with the company on its zoning applications.“
We lodged material change of use applications for the first two buildings and at the same time we lodged variation applications because we have an innovation and mixed use zones,” he said. “Neither of those … in this industrial environment allowed for industrial uses.“
We lodged an application to blur the lines of those two zonings and also add permissible uses like light industrial.“ So in the future we will be able to have code assessable applications marching up the hill and council were very supportive of that.”
