Wednesday, 15 April, 2015
By Kathy Sundstrom
The vision for a brand new Maroochydore city centre, creating thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars, is one giant step closer to becoming a reality. Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson has announced the establishment of a management company and its board of directors to oversee the development of the project. He said the Maroochydore city centre project was a “game changer” for the region and he wanted to ensure council had “the right model and best people to take it forward.” The company, to be known as SunCentral Maroochydore Pty Ltd, would oversee the design, construction, marketing and sales in the Maroochydore city centre project.
The council bought the city centre site from the Horton Park Golf Club in 2011 for $42 million. Council’s CEO and the newly elected CEO for SunCentral Maroochydore Pty Ltd, John Knaggs, expected to see a mammoth return on this investment. “We expect this site to return in the hundreds of millions (of dollars) and create thousands of jobs,” Mr Knaggs said.
The five-member board of directors has years of experience to bring to the table. Chairman, Dr Douglas McTaggart, who will receive a salary of $120,000 a year, is a director at Suncorp Group Limited and UGL Limited and a member of the Prime Minister’s Expert Advisory Panel on the Reform of the Federation.
Other positions he as held include Professor of Economics and Associate Dean at Bond University and Under Treasurer of Queensland Treasury. Joining him are Michael Kerry, Morgan Parker, Don Boyd and Jude Munro. Each director will be paid $70,000 a year.
Mr Jamieson expected to see construction begin on the site in June, but said the entire project would take 20 years to unfold. The company was not expected to be in a position to begin selling blocks of land until next year. As much as 40% of the 53ha site will be left as open space. Mr Jamieson said the council had “high expectations of this project.”
Maroochydore CBD timeline
Maroochy Weekly April 9, 2015
Tags: Apartment Living, business, CBD, development, maroochy boulevard, Maroochydore, Sunshine Cove, Sunshine Plaza, waterfront
Posted in Press Clippings
