DEVELOPER SHOWS CONFIDENCE WITH UNIT DEVELOPMENTS
HAYDEN SMITH have barely been seen in Cairns since before the Global Financial Crisis.
Mr Stubbs – who also drove the City Lights unit development on Grafton St about six years ago – valued his Yorkeys Knob project at more than $12 million.
“I could see there was going to be a shortfall in rental accommodation because no units have been built,” he said.
“If the units sell then I’ll move them on, but if they don’t I’ll be happy to rent them out.”
The latest Herron Todd White Cairns Watch report shows that the median unit price in the city was $210,800 as of March this year – a 6.3 per cent drop from the same month last year.
But with a number of highprofile CBD accommodation projects on the horizon, Mr Stubbs was confident the local unit market would soon awaken from a lengthy slumber.
“Having cranes in the sky is a sign that things are about to change, there will be another rush in the Cairns market,” he said.
“Workers on those new buildings will need accommodation.
“There’s been a certain level of inquiry for Marina Sands, but while a lot of people are asking questions they’re also waiting to see the direction in which Cairns goes.”
He said Marina Sands – at 43-45 Sims Esplanade – would soon be finished, with units ranging in price from the “mid $500,000s to high $600,000s”.
A former cane farmer, Mr Stubbs said he also planned to develop a prominent Mulgrave Rd site into a unit complex in the near future. “I have the land ... it will start to happen when enough sales have occurred at Marina Sands,” he said.
Meanwhile, another unit development is also taking shape at Yorkeys Knob.
Whitehaven Apartments at 6-8 Wattle St is the brainchild of Brisbane developer and former Cairns local Troy Price.
The 21-unit complex has been flagged for completion later this year. Find your next home in today’s real estate liftout