Golf to Greenfield: 1200 Homes Planned for Sunshine Coast Driving Range

A golf driving range on the Sunshine Coast could be converted into a greenfield development site for 1200 new homes in the supply-starved region.

RM Developments acquired the site in 2021 for about $6.8 million, according to CoreLogic data, and has managed the 4.19ha driving range since then. 

The developer has filed plans with the Sunshine Coast Council to subdivide the driving range into 12 large land parcels with a masterplanned precinct earmarked for Australia’s first university town. 

The greenfield opportunity at Sippy Downs in the Sunshine Coast’s education hub precinct is about 1km from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The site is also within the Sippy Downs Town Centre, a zone that allows for high density accommodation and maximum building heights of 25 metres. 

But RM Developments director Josh Myers said the proposed subdivision would be a longer term project after recently negotiating a new two-year lease for the driving range. 

“The subdivision approval being sought is of strategic long-term importance to the Sippy Downs masterplan,” Myers said. 

▲ RM Developments director Josh Myers said there was no immediate plans to commence works on the site.

Myers said he anticipated the buildings on the site would typically be apartments or townhouses, but other uses including residential care and student accommodation could also be in the mix. 

RM Developments has 23 projects between South Brisbane and Airlie Beach with a gross realisation of more than $850 million. 

It is also developing two other sites in Sippy Downs. A SOHO development at 310 University Way is currently under construction, while development approval has been granted for an 89-apartment project in Spring Street.

According to the State Government’s ShapingSEQ plan, an additional 219,000 people are forecast to move to the Sunshine Coast by 2041. 

The projections would require an additional 84,800 homes to be delivered in the next 17 years and encourages compact urban growth and an increase in medium and high-density residential towers. 

Halls Creek on the Sunshine Coast has been identified as a potential future growth area.