The jetty set

A core skill of a 'hotspotter’ is identifying residential property with that something extra – something of intrinsic value to a buyer. And what could be better for an avid boatie than a home with a private marina berth or pontoon?

As Australia’s recreational boating numbers swell, properties with these facilities are fetching a premium. And opportunities to park your boat at the front door could also be harder to find in future, with authorities in Queensland and NSW stopping canal development, apart from those with pre-existing approvals. Public marinas have lengthy waiting lists and offer little in the way of long-term mooring.

A marina conference at the Gold Coast this year left delegates in no doubt where the industry is heading. Based on overseas experience, there will be a big shift to 'dry’ boat stacking – the aquatic equivalent of a multi-storey car park where boats are stored out of water when not in use. So far in Australia, these facilities are limited to smaller boats.

CB Richard Ellis valuer Garrie Love says the marina industry is lagging behind overseas trends. The scarcity of marina berths will deliver a real premium in the future to those who own homes with the bonus mooring.

PRD Nationwide research compared the cost of marina berths around the nation on a 'per linear metre’ basis. Sydney’s Rushcutters Bay topped the list, with berths averaging $45,000 per linear metre. At Birkenhead Point in Drummoyne, the country’s second most expensive marina, berths go for $20,000 per linear metre. Recent apartment sales in this suburb have ranged from $985,000 to $2.65 million (the latter with access to a private jetty).

The banning of canal development in NSW (1997) and Queensland (2004) handed pent-up demand to developers who controlled land with pre-existing development approvals.

Canal-front land at Hope Island north of Surfers Paradise more than tripled in value in five years, according to Matusik Property Insights. At nearby Sovereign Islands, there was a sixfold increase in land values. Big capital gains were also seen at Raby Bay south-east of Brisbane and at developments on the Coomera River on the Gold Coast.

The Roche Group – the family company of former Nutri-Metics owners Bill and Imelda Roche – reported 'overwhelming success’ with sales in its Calypso Bay canal development north of the Gold Coast. Roche picked up a pre-existing development approval and has reported land sales ranging from $620,000 to $770,000. Notably, Roche has decided to keep the freehold of the marina berths, leasing them to individual property owners.

Boaties' paradise

There is a lot happening in Queensland – as one might expect of a state with 2100 kilometres of coastline, agreeable weather and plentiful rivers, creeks and islands – a boaties’ paradise. Savvy Brisbane developer Don O’Rorke saw the potential years ago and put his foot on two future marina/resort development sites: Bluewater Marina near Cairns and Breakwater Marina in Townsville. The Townsville site is now being developed in joint venture with Mirvac and City Pacific. Bluewater, a $250 million master-planned residential community and 108-berth marina development, has since been sold to Multiplex.

Here are some recent examples of Queensland properties with marina berths or moorings that have sold at high prices:

• A northern NSW buyer paid $1.8 million for a penthouse on Kawana Island, with a 16 metre marina berth providing access to waters off the Sunshine Coast.
• A Townsville waterfront home site with a pontoon sold for $1 million, only months after it had changed hands for $750,000.
• At Port Hinchinbrook in North Queensland, where most homes have either beachfront or deep water access, a home bought for $850,000 in 2003 was sold for $1.6 million in 2006.
• Back in 2006, an orthopaedic surgeon from Adelaide paid $2.3 million for an off-the-plan Capricorn Coast villa at Keppel Bay Marina. The 390 square metre luxury villa has a 19 metre multi-hull berth.

Sydney is characterised by a shortage of moorings and huge demand (16,000 registered vessels and only 8770 storage spaces). There are 41 commercial marinas clustered around Sydney Harbour but only 11 of these are private, according to a State Government report. This background should explain why the 267 private berths attached to apartment buildings around the Finger Wharf change hands for as much as $400,000.

In the harbour city, persistence paid off for developer James Markham. After a much-contested four-year approval process, a scaled-back version of Markham’s Rozelle Bay marina project allows dry storage for 670 boats plus a marina and commercial precinct.

In Victoria, the ASX-listed City Pacific group has developed Martha Cove, a new residential development located around a series of man-made canals at Safety Beach, about 75 minutes south of the Melbourne CBD. The canal development now has direct access to Port Phillip Bay via an aqueduct or “sail over” that crosses the highway. Four years in development, Martha Cove has the potential for 1150 homes, apartments and townhouses in various stages.

The first home sites were put on the market in January: 26 blocks ranging in size from 764 to 1600 square metres Brindabella Point, adjacent to the five hectare harbour, were priced between $1.5 million and $3.2 million, each site including a freehold marina berth. And the first residents recently moved into Seaspray Close, where waterfront houses with a freehold marina berth option were sold at prices ranging from $1.7 million to $2.1 million.

Gippsland Lakes

The Gippsland Lakes district is a series of coastal lagoons 300 kilometres east of Melbourne. The area is known as 'the boating capital of Victoria’, with ample moorings and safe water. At Kings Cove, just outside of the village of Metung, a 160 hectare, $250 million residential community is evolving with a golf course, 800 metres of lake frontage and a 300-berth marina. Developer Ross Heath has obtained a second marina approval for a 40-berth facility, which he hopes to start building this year. Heath says the plan is to first establish the 40-berth marina and attract enough attention to fast-track the larger marina development.

In WA, a 2007 study by the WA Department of Primary Industries predicts the number of recreational boats in Perth to grow 77% between 2006 and 2025, from 46,000 to 80,000. Most of the berthing facilities along Perth’s Swan River are at capacity and there is little potential for expansion.

Australand began work last year on its $900 million Port Coogee (WA) marina and residential development, a project that is expected to take several years to complete. The plan includes a marina village, private boat pens, a 300-berth public marina and extensive residential areas. Stage 2A includes 33 compact lots (443–576 square metres) priced from $610,000 to $795,000.

Apart from Coogee Bay, however, private marina development plans in WA are some way off, with possibilities in the next decade of marinas at Mangles Bay at Rockingham and Eglinton, 50 kilometres north of Perth.

Port Adelaide, 14 kilometres north-west of the Adelaide CBD, is the location for the massive Newport Quays project, a joint venture with Urban Construct and Multiplex Living. The project comprises individual homes, villas, terraces and apartments, retail and tourism precincts, public and private marinas and mooring facilities, and landscaped public access areas.

Prices started at $340,000 for a one-bedroom apartment in Edgewater, the first area of Newport Quays to be developed. A two-bedroom apartment with its own 12 metre berth was priced at $600,000 and a three-bedroom apartment was available off the plan for $750,000. The Marina Cove precinct of Newport Quays, which is due for completion in March 2009, is planned to have 236 waterside residences of various configurations. There will be 99 recreational marina berths available in the precinct.

On a cautionary note, Queensland developer Russell McCart says marina development is no place for the faint-hearted – and he should know. McCart’s Meridien Group controls Abel Point Marina at Airlie Beach and Horizon Shores marina on the Gold Coast. McCart says it took eight years to gain approvals to develop the Port of Airlie resort/marina at Airlie Beach.

“The levels of professionalism you need to develop a marina, with all of the environmental regulations and different levels of government you have to deal with, are such that only the dedicated developer can take it on,” McCart says. “It is far too complex and time-consuming for a well-meaning land-owner.”

Terry Ryder is publisher of real estate website hotspotting.com.au.