German point of sale
Approvals in place yet investors opt out of Varsity Lakes block without firing a development shot
GERMAN investors appear to have sounded a barely-audible retreat bugle, without firing a development shot, at the vibrant lakefront suburb that is Varsity Lakes.
A group of Deutschlanders plunged $26.4 million into a gem of a site fronting Lake Orr 11 years ago and at one point appeared poised to press the go button on a major project.
It now has emerged that the mixed-use 5.4ha holding, known as Bermuda Point, very discreetly has been waved under the noses of potential buyers.
It’s not known how much the German owners are seeking but, given that the site carries a pretty healthy development approval, it could be well north of $30 million and the notes coming out of the bugle might signal a very happy ‘retreat’.
Any buyer of the land, which backs on to Bermuda St south of the Varsity Towers student accommodation property, would be able to develop many hundreds of apartments in buildings potentially of up to 14 levels.
The approvals for the site also offer them the chance to develop, should they choose, copious amounts of office and retail space.
The German vision for the retail area was for a Europeanlike lakeside village, with a piazza that took in cafes, restaurants and markets.
A hectare of the Bermuda Point site would be dredged so an arm of the lake would flow into the centre of the village.
The move to find an offmarket buyer for the property comes five years after there were indications the German owners, who operate through company Castleshore, might be getting into a development mood.
Nothing transpired and the owners appear, up until now, to have been content to sit on their investment.
They would not appear to be under any financial pressure – they paid cash for the site and, as of 2012, had no borrowings on it.
The land was bought from an arm of Delfin, the Lend Lease entity which developed Varsity Lakes.
It’s likely that a factor in the German decision to quietly look for a buyer has been influenced by the very few lakefront opportunities for developers at Varsity Lakes.
Of more significance might have been the runaway success developers Evan Raptis and George Mastrocostas enjoyed with a project called South Lakes which has a 400-metre frontage to Lake Orr.
The 374 apartments, spread over three towers, sold out in little more than 18 months and well ahead of the completion of South Lakes.
Some of the Castleshore owners are believed to have been attracted to the Gold Coast in the wake of former Deutsche Bank executive Gerd Kraemer lining up successful projects in the city.
The Kraemer factor saw the twin Oceana towers built north of Broadbeach, a 15-level building called Blue C developed at Coolangatta, and 80ha of land fronting the Robina golf course bought for $34.5 million.
ANY BUYER OF THE LAND WOULD BE ABLE TO DEVELOP MANY HUNDREDS OF APARTMENTS IN BUILDINGS POTENTIALLY OF UP TO 14 LEVELS.