Gold Coast landowner wins again with $8m sale
A Gold Coaster – who twice battled the council and won $1.12 million in compo after it appropriated a slice of his Upper Coomera land too cheaply – has sold the balance of the parcel for almost $8 million.
The Gold Coast City Council excised a 4404sqm swath of land from Terence Dobson’s parcel in 2007.
The council wanted it for the widening of Days Rd, and paid Dobson about $100 per square metre for the land, which was zoned residential.
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However, Dobson argued that because of recent development in the area such as the adjoining Woolworths-anchored Coomera Centre precinct, he was entitled to a higher price.
He took council to the Land Court and won, but council appealed, and in 2014 the Land Appeal Court again ruled in Dobson’s favour.
The Land Appeal Court dismissed the council appeal and upheld a Land Court ruling that the council pay compensation not on the basis of the land’s residential zoning at time of acquisition but on the basis of its most likely use for commercial development.
The land is near busy Exit 54. Picture Mike Batterham.
Late last year, Dobson sold the 2.64ha balance of his holding at 19 Kristins Lane for $7.995 million (inclusive of GST) – representing a square metre rate of $302.
The buyer is Brisbane based Silverstone Developments, which is planning a mixed-use development on the site, possibly to include a service station and coffee shop.
Marketing agent Gerry Thibault, of NAI Harcourts Gold Coast, negotiated the sale to Silverstone.
He says the Upper Coomera commercial precinct has seen strong growth, above the national average, for the past decade.
“The Kristins Lane site has a substantial exposure of 300m to Days Road the main arterial road that links the area to the Pacific Highway at Exit 54.”
“The greater Coomera area has always attracted development groups due to being 40 minutes to the Brisbane CBD and 30 minutes to the beaches at Surfers Paradise.”
This article from the Gold Coast Bulletin first appeared as “Terence Dobson, who twice beat Gold Coast Council in the Land Court, has made $8m off the site”.
