Impact of the CBD development beyond construction

With the Maroochydore CBD development sold to developers Walker Corporation and the Sunshine Coast City hall project under construction and being touted as a great way to boost the local economy with immediate construction jobs, economic predictions show that this infrastructure investment is set to positively impact the region for many years to come.

Once construction is completed, the Sunshine Coast will have the most iconic city hall in Australia with design inspiration drawn from our natural landscapes and representing the world heritage listed glasshouse mountains with linking to the sea. It will be a landmark of sustainability and iconic design.

Mayor Jamieson said the building would be a significant community asset and one that would be remembered for playing an important part in helping the region’s economy recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Council understands the importance of construction projects proceeding at this time to build momentum in the economy and provide local jobs when they are needed most,” said Mayor Jamieson.

Local property expert and analyst Mal Cayley explains that the economic impact for the Sunshine Coast region beyond the initial construction phase of the City Hall and remainder of the CBD is to be felt for the long term.

“The City Hall is symbolic of the confidence in the new City Centre and a geographic repositioning for the Sunshine Coast Council for the first time since its amalgamations. It will be catalytic for the surrounding development sites as the significant presence of Council will draw demand for a number of services nearby.

“Once complete it will signify a shift to contemporary working bringing the Sunshine Coast Council to the competitive arena for talent attraction, further driving migration demand and city growth and increasing our competitiveness as a region,” explained Mr. Cayley.

“With a private developer now holding the reigns on the rest of the city centre’s rollout we should see things moving much faster.”

The new CBD and landmark City Hall, together with the subsea broadband cable landing station places the Sunshine Coast as a location attractive to many new businesses to relocate and create long-term jobs for the region.

“Large-scale companies that need latency and redundancy, such as finance and tech-based companies, that would be considering the Sunshine Coast due to the high-speed connectivity of the subsea broadband cable can have an equivalent CBD home with an incredible beach-side lifestyle.  It helps the business case of those businesses and vice versa with a CBD with the best connectivity in Australia.

“This not only benefits the businesses relocating here, but also the existing businesses in the region to incrementally grow. It applies to government too. The City Hall and well-resourced CBD provides scope for new public and private interest.” added Mr. Cayley.

As an analyst with a particular interest in property and accommodation, Mr. Cayley has investigated the predicted ripple effect of the big business coming to town.

“With that level of growth and stimulus it will not only drive demand in the immediate vicinity but across the coast for all types of accommodation needs. Property markets are driven by the strength of the underlying economy, demand, and supply of new dwellings to meet that demand. People are moving from all over the country to take up the opportunities on offer here further exacerbating the greatest undersupply of residential property of the 20 largest cities in the country.

“As a catalyst project, City Hall will continue to drive the nation leading growth we are currently seeing. The timing is also significant with over 200 direct workers on site each day, the broader effect is likely to impact a further 200-300 other jobs as it flows through the community. It is yet another game changing project that is setting apart the Sunshine Coast as an economic powerhouse for the next 5-10 years,” explained Mr. Cayley.

While these all sound like great results for a project a couple of years off completion, Mr. Cayley explained that the opportunity is now for Sunshine Coast residents to plan and take action to benefit from the growth that is coming.

“Don’t wait until the CBD is complete and all the predictions have come to fruition, it’ll be too late to reap the best rewards then. The time to act is now. Consider ways to evolve your business, look at what you could invest in – homes, businesses, accommodation – keep your eyes open to opportunities that arise,” urged Mr. Cayley.