Sentinel Corp buys maiden Queensland site
Sentinel Fund Manager Australia – the local arm of US-based Sentinel Real Estate Corporation – has purchased its maiden Queensland site for a Build to Rent project.
The 1.44 hectare block, lots 5-8 Stadium Drive, Robina, on the Gold Coast, is setting the group back a speculated $17 million.
The vendor, Robina Group, offered it permit ready for 300 apartments in four adjoining eight storey buildings.
Sentinel Corp is planning exactly that, in what it added will be a carbon neutral project.
Colliers’ Steven King and Brendan Hogan with CBRE’s Daniel Doran and Mark Wetheriff were the agents.
Robina is 10 kilometres south of Surfers Paradise.
Notable buyer, seller
Robina Group was established by late Singapore industrialist Dr Robin Loh who in 1980, with Arthur Earle, purchased the 20 square km site now known as Robina.
The suburb is named after Dr Loh, with the A a nod to Mr Earle, who died in 1998.
Today, it is home to about 30,000 people – a number forecast to more than double by 2050 – as well as Bond University, Robina Stadium (now known as Cbus Super Stadium), and the Robina Town Centre.
In recent years, a major medical precinct has been taking shape, with institutional giants including Australian Unity and Centuria holding assets.
The Acuity Business Park, where Charter Hall last year bought two offices from Alceon, is also in the region.
QIC, which is constructing a 7000 square metre office for the federal government, and a partnership comprising De Luca Corporation and Glen Wright’s Wright Capital, are building offices in the pocket too.
The Gold Coast Olympic and Paralympic Village will also be developed in the area ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
Dr Loh died in 2010 (story continues below).
Sentinel Corp grows development pipeline
Sentinel Corp is New York based.
Elsewhere in Australia, in Perth, it recently completed a BTR project at Subiaco and has earmarked another in Scarborough.
In West Melbourne, the group is constructing an asset of this type with 172 dwellings, incorporating the historic Briscoe & Company factory, at 164-184 Roden Street.
Also once accommodating Don Kyatt Group’s spare parts warehouse, that 3642 sqm site cost $17m from Oliver Hume in 2018.
Like Robina, it came permit-ready.
Flexible site, booming area
Comprising four lots between 3436-4130 sqm, and with three street frontages, 5-8 Stadium Dve was marketed for its potential to make way for offices or essential services product – including a medical centre or aged care complex.
Opposite the stadium, it is also close to the proposed Greenheart park – a Gold Coast City Council initiative – and Bond University’s Health and Sports TAFE campus.
“After bringing our premium and sustainable BTR communities to Western Australia and Victoria, we’re excited to expand our footprint to [Queensland],” Sentinel FMA managing director, Keith Lucas, said.
“We’re committed to delivering a sustainable and high quality living environment that provides renters with a refined rental experience and offer Queenslanders greater housing choices,” he added.
“This is especially important as rental vacancy in Queensland continues to tighten and areas like Robina expect to see a significant boom in population and jobs growth over the next decade,” according to the executive.
“South East Queensland is the third largest urban region in Australia and accounts for almost 90 per cent of [the state’s] total population growth”.
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