Council secures purchase of prime inner city site
Date published: 27 May 2016
The stakes have been raised in Townsville’s campaign for the Integrated Stadium and Entertainment Centre with the purchase of inner-city land suitable for the proposed facility.
Recent negotiations with the Devine Group concluded with the Townsville City Council signing an unconditional contract to buy the 17.4 hectare former railway land, located on the southern bank of Ross Creek.
Mayor Cr Jenny Hill said the land purchase was a strategically important acquisition for the city’s exciting plans for the Waterfront Priority Development Area in the CBD.
“The purchase of the former railway land in the heart of the CBD is critical for the city’s plans to drive new development and investment in the inner-city area,” Cr Hill said.
“The current depressed market has enabled the council to secure the land for a bargain basement price, which I can confirm as $9 million.
“Securing control of the site now removes the last remaining impediment for the State and Federal governments to fund the ISEC project, just as they have elsewhere.
“Council has said all along that our contribution would be providing the site.
“The importance of just over 17 hectares of land so close to the CBD is enormously important strategically for the city’s future.
“The area is big enough to home not just the ISEC, but a range of other activities that will support our urban renewal objectives throughout the PDA.
“Creating new development opportunities in the inner-city area will generate new investment and jobs, and reduces costs on the community by utilising infrastructure already in place.”
Townsville Enterprise Ltd CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said the ISEC project was crucial for the city’s future.
“ISEC will be an anchor for accelerated development of the $1.9B Waterfront Priority Development Area in a way no other project could match,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“This project is about activating underutilised inner-city land to catalyse CBD revitalisation, creating significant investment and job opportunities not just for Townsville, but for the whole Northern Queensland region.
“Long term, up to 1,000 jobs will be created through increased economic activity. This project isn’t a silver bullet to Townsville’s challenges, but it is an economic contributor and one that we as a community have been working on for the best part of a decade and very much need right now.”
Cr Hill said purchasing the former railway site was consistent with strategic land purchases the council had made for the city’s development over many years.
These included land for the university, the Douglas and Riverside Gardens residential developments, and industrial land on the former CSIRO Lansdowne Station in the city’s southlands.
The council will take possession of the site in August.
