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Bunnings moving to Industry Central Murwillumbah
HARDWARE giant Bunnings Group will have a purpose-built trade distribution centre warehouse built for it at Murwillumbah’s Industry Central Estate.
The new facility will be built by Industry Central owner, Gold Coast developer Peter Mitchell.
Peter Mitchell intends to sell the property to the investment market.
“In addition to continuing its aggressive rollout of new stores across Australia and New Zealand, Bunnings is also embarking on the rollout of dedicated trade centres to cater to the professional builder market," said Matthew Toohey, Bunnings General Manager, Property.
Construction of the trade distribution centre will start by early October 2008 and it is scheduled to be completed prior to mid 2009.
The 5000sqm facility will be constructed of pre-cast concrete panels on a 1.34HA site at Industry Centre at Murwillumbah, on the NSW Tweed Coast.
Mr Mitchell has appointed Industry Central’s preferred builder, Williams River Steel, to complete the construction.
Bunnings was introduced to the estate by Nicholas Brown from Surfers Paradise real estate agents Bayliss Samra.
Mr Brown said he had also introduced another two large operators to the estate and hoped both deals would be finalised this year.
The Bunnings building was designed by long-term team member of Mr Mitchell’s group, Robert Gow Architects.
This is the fourth major building project Mr Mitchell has announced for Industry Central in the past month.
Mr Mitchell said ‘the price is right’ when it came to Industry Central and ‘I won’t be beaten on price either on land or construction’.
“Costs are always a driving force, and with land prices on the Gold Coast averaging over $450sqm, the Industry Central Estate at Murwillumbah is the logical choice for businesses to be located,” he said.
“Buyers and tenants are now finally realising what a fantastic location Murwillumbah is to service the area south to Grafton and north to northern Gold Coast, now that the new Tugun bypass has opened,” he said.
“The Tugun bypass has really opened up this region to companies which once were not persuaded to move here because of traffic congestion. This problem has now gone.
“Stockland and Metricon both are developing residential estates in the Tweed region, including one each at Murwillumbah.
Land prices at Industry Central average $200sqm, with prices starting from $165sqm. Mr Mitchell is also now offering full finance to owner occupiers.
Mr Mitchell is now in talks with a number of other top ASX-listed companies wanting to establish themselves in the Industry Central Estate.
He said he hoped to be able announce the new deals soon.
Tom Senti from the Tweed Economic Development Corporation (TEDC), who has been a strong supporter of the region for nearly a decade, said he believed the Tweed region would be the future growth area of the New Tweed /Gold Coast.
Mr Senti said the area had a lot of attraction for larger companies and Mr Mitchell had cleverly targeted this market.
“His first four buildings at Industry Central are all over 2200sqm with an average size of nearly 3300sqm,’’ said Mr Senti.
“And don’t forget about the employment being generated by this developer.
“It is the beginning of a new time for the region of sustained prosperity.
“We hope with a new council now in place, that they will continue to support developers like Mitchell, who really do a lot for the community as a whole.”
