Billionaire Pays $177m in Record Gold Coast Land Sale

A billionaire and his son have put their foot on reportedly Queensland’s largest residential development site sold in 20 years, paying $177 million.

Property developer Bob Ell (pictured below) and son Robert’s Leda Holdings are planning around 4000 homes for the 161ha Coomera Quarter parcel at 49 Cunningham Drive; 51 and 70 George Alexander Way, Coomera, in the northern Gold Coast.

It is believed to have been the biggest land sale in the history of the Gold Coast.

The sale was handled by JLL Metropolitan and Regional Land on behalf of the vendors.

According to Corelogic, the land was previously held by Coomera Resort Pty Ltd.

ASIC records its directors as Makaaki Ikeda, Motoaki Omura and Chisako Sako; while its shares are held by Omura, Hokojitsugyo Company Ltd and Coomera Town Centre Management Pty Ltd.

JLL senior executive Jake Burrowes said the deal came after “a highly competitive, off-market expressions of interest campaign which generated strong interest both domestically and internationally resulting in 13 bids at the close with a collective value of $2 billion”.

“The site was ultimately acquired via an unconditional offer of $177,000,000. The campaign and result are a testament to the strong fundamentals that underpin the continued long-term growth of south-east Queensland and highlights the severe undersupply of suitably zoned, serviceable land in the broader region,” he said.

The infill site carries approval to deliver a masterplanned community, including five neighbourhood centres and 4200 homes comprised of a mix of house and land, townhouses and apartments close to the site of two future hospitals as well as the Coomera Town Centre.

Burrowes said the “landmark” transaction now gave Leda the potential to deliver a total of 16,000 homes “across the heavily undersupplied Gold Coast region”.

Leda already has residential developments in train at Kings Forest and Cobaki Lakes, both on the Tweed Coast in northern NSW.

Bob Ell founded property development business Leda Group in 1976. It floated on the ASX in the late 1980s and was privatised in 1990. In last year’s AFR Rich List, Ell was reportedly worth $2.42 billion.