A 53-hectare CBD development on a former golf course in Maroochydore, an urban centre on the Sunshine Coast, is on its way to being realized after work began on the site late last week.
The project, SunCentral, is being touted as a “smart city.” It will include features such as an automated waste management system that uses underground tubes and the digital management of streetlights, car parks, power and signage. The council hopes the integration of technology will help to attract business.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited the site to mark the beginning of the project, which she said could boost the state’s economy by $5.9 billion over the next 20 years.
The SunCentral project will include around 150,000 square metres of commercial development, 65,000 square metres of retail development and 1,950 residential apartments. A hotel, civic buildings and an exhibition, convention and entertainment centre will all form part of the project over coming years.
The Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson described the project as, “Australia’s only greenfield CBD within an existing urban area.”
More than 40 percent of the site, which is located on the former Horton Park Golf Club, will be dedicated to parklands and waterways.
The project is being developed by SunCentral Maroochydore, a private organization owned by the Sunshine Coast Council that was established in March 2015. The lead project involved in masterplanning the site is Mark Fuller from Tract Consultants.
SunCentral Maroochydore’s CEO John Knaggs said that project would result in an interconnected city that will avoid contributing to suburban sprawl on the Sunshine Coast.
Both light and regular rail are likely to form a key part of the new development’s public transport offering. The state government has planned a railway line to Maroochydore by 2031 under its Connecting SEQ 2031 transport strategy, and a proposed light rail for the Sunshine Coast that would travel through Maroochydore is currently undergoing feasibility studies.
It is predicted that more than 500,000 people will live on the Sunshine Coast by 2040, when the project will be completed. Presently, around 297,000 people reside along the Sunshine Coast.
