Sunland closer to asset clear-out after Marina Concourse Village sells for $16.78m

One of the last undeveloped lots in property developer Sunland Group’s (ASX: SDG) dwindling portfolio, the Marina Concourse Village retail precinct on the Gold Coast, has sold in a deal worth $16.78 million.

The property, once home to the corporate headquarters of the now Brisbane-based company, comprises eight retail and commercial tenancies with potential for further development including marina berths.

The Marina Concourse Village is anchored by Gold Coast developer Homecorp, headed by Ron Bakir, while Sunland also retains a presence on the site.

The sale has been struck on a yield of 5.5 per cent following an expressions of interest campaign conducted by Kollosche Commercial’s Adam and Tony Grbcic that drew 168 enquiries from interstate and local investors.

Adam Grbcic says the campaign ‘attracted healthy interest in what is a safe asset with key anchor tenants on long lease periods’.

For Sunland, the sale takes the company another step closer to offloading its entire property portfolio of developed and undeveloped assets by the fourth quarter of this financial year.

The Marina Concourse deal follows the $45.8 million sale late last year of Sunland’s The Lanes Retail Precinct at Mermaid Waters to NSW-based Panthera Group.

Grbcic says the buyer of the Marina Concourse Village, which is located in the western precinct of the RACV Royal Pines Resort at Benowa, is a local investor with several residential and commercial freehold investments on the Gold Coast.

“This property is unique,” he says. “There is a rare mix of tenancies, so there was no real precedent for this property. A large portion of the precinct is occupied by purpose-built tenancies.”

The site was the long-term corporate headquarters for Sunland before the company relocated to Brisbane ahead of a proposed portfolio expansion in the Queensland capital. In 2018, Sunland delivered the Marina Concourse development next to the site, a twin-tower project adjoining the Royal Pines Marina.

The sale of the precinct includes the undeveloped marina, which could yield up to 100 berths that offer Nerang River access via a lock system. Excess land within the village offers the new buyer upside with capacity for additional commercial development.

“The rights to the marina open up the further potential to build marina berths, a floating restaurant or activate the water with recreational water sports,” says Grbcic.

Sunland announced at the end of September that it was on track to wipe the slate clean in the current financial year as it progresses plans to sell its remaining assets and return capital to investors. The company says it is likely to delist from the ASX after the sell-off is completed by 30 June 2022.

Sunland’s active projects include the 272 Hedges Avenue high rise at Mermaid Beach, The Lanes Residences West Village at Mermaid Waters and and the final two stages of Montaine Residences at Mt Annan in Sydney. The company expects all projects to be completed and settled by April next year.

The only undeveloped sites the company owns are two lots at The Lakes in Mermaid Waters which are expected to find a buyer before the end of this year.

Sunland, founded by professional architect Soheil Abedian in 1983 with the development of a single home, has delivered some of the Gold Coast's most iconic projects, including the Q1 in Surfers Paradise and Palazzo Versace Hotel at Main Beach.

Abedian, the Sunland chairman, and his son Sahba Abedian, the Sunland managing director, are expected to continue undertaking their own projects in a private capacity following a delisting of the company.