SIGN OF THE TIMES AS M1 LAND IS RELEASED

A PARCEL of prime land with M1 service-road frontage is up for sale in the fast-growing Helensvale area.

After standing alone on the eastern side of the highway for nearly five years, the AHC headquarters building (pictured) at Helensvale is about to get some neighbours.

The listed property development company, which owns a 30,000 sqm package of land on Siganto Drive, has put its signature building and 11 adjoining lots on the market.

AHC Managing Director, Rod MacLeod, expects keen interest in the properties as he can vouch for the benefits the company has enjoyed from exposure to the Pacific Motorway.

“Our company has been in existence since 1989, and even though we’re a listed company, our name was not widely recognized until we moved to this site in 2008,” he says.

“The AHC sign is an icon for people driving down the highway. Everywhere I go, if I wear my AHC shirt or hat, people recognize the name from the sign. It has lifted our profile immensely.”

Although its headquarters are for sale, AHC has no plans to leave the area and would consider a lease back if the building sold or may relocate into any future office development in the area, MacLeod says.

AHC has engaged Colliers International to market the land. James Crawford and Stewart Gilchrist are the appointed agents.

The 12 lots on Siganto Drive have a combined area of 30,505sq m. Individually, they are around 2000 sqm.

All are vacant except for the AHC headquarters site which features a two-level office building of around 830 sqm. The site will be sold with the existing 10m pylon sign that is so visible from the highway.

Crawford says the release of the land will add to the corridor’s reputation as one of the fastest-growing areas in the south-east of the State.

The recent Colliers International Gold Coast Development Map revealed ongoing and proposed development activity in the Helensvale-Coomera region totals $13.5 billion across 127 projects.

“The development sector dominating that area is residential, with as many as 37 projects in the pipeline worth a total of $7.2 billion,” says Crawford.

“With the accompanying population growth, there will be more demand for all types of businesses in the corridor, and in particularly along Siganto Drive."

Crawford says prospective buyers for lots in the AHC package are likely to be buoyed by the prospect of infrastructure charges on the Gold Coast being frozen for six months and halved for a further 12 months - a promise made by recently-elected mayor Tom Tate.

“This is a major benefit for anyone looking to do a development on the Gold Coast and it would make any development on this land at Helensvale a lot more affordable,” he says.

Crawford say the land being offer in Siganto Drive has a ‘Pacific Business Corridor’ zoning which makes it suitable for business operations with the exception of fast food outlets.

Although several fast food outlets are situated on the southern end of Siganto Drive, they were built before the new zoning was introduced.

“Most of the properties further along on Siganto Drive are offices and showrooms, but there is the potential for many other uses of this newly available land, such as warehousing, a landscaping business or a car sales yard," he says.

AHC has been responsible for developing around 80 per cent of Siganto Drive, MacLeod says.

The company established a presence there in 1989 when it built a Caltex service station on the corner of Siganto Drive and Helensvale Road. That site is now a McDonald’s.

Since then the company has undertaken and completed both residential and commercial developments in the area and continued to develop along Siganto Drive, including the Saltwater Creek Hotel; Riverpark Plaza, a 12-unit showroom development; and River Park Estate, a residential subdivision.

“There is so much on offer in the area now," says MacLeod.