With the closure of the former Kingston High School, Kingborough Council saw the opportunity to use this 11.3ha site to deliver both public open space and catalyst development outcomes needed to activate the Kingston Activity Centre (KAC) and make it a true city centre for the Kingborough community. Since November 2016, NAVIRE has been engaged by Council as its Principal Property Adviser for this journey.

The task

Within the context of a pre-existing master plan for the Site, NAVIRE was engaged to advise Council on the deliverability of the existing Kingston Park master plan by the private sector and the creation of a land release strategy to help Council achieve its objectives for Kingston Park and the broader KAC. These objectives included:

  • the delivery of residential and other mixed-use development outcomes across the Site;
  •  the delivery of public parking to compliment Council’s Community Hub and open space across the Site;
  •  receiving an acceptable land price for the sites which reflects Council’s investment in the infrastructure for Kingston Park; and
  •  having the development of Kingston Park catalyse additional private sector development in the KAC.

The responsibilities

NAVIRE’s key responsibilities for the engagement included:

  • Writing and presenting a discussion paper for Council Executive and Councillors setting out the considerations and options available to Government land owners wishing to facilitate urban renewal and achieve the objectives listed above.
  • Reviewing and recalibrating the existing master plan for the Site to ensure that it had the best chance of being deliverable by the private sector while delivering on Council’s collection of objectives. This included development feasibility modelling for the Site and determining the indicative residual land values that could be paid by a developer to the Council should the Site be developed in accordance with different sale methodologies.
  • Developing the land release strategy/process for Council on how to bring the Site to market.
  • Undertaking a market sounding process ahead of the land release process.
  • Conducting the land release process with Council, including the assessment of expressions of interest and final proposals from bidders.
  • Negotiations with bidders to select the developer and agree the Project Delivery Agreement (PDA).
  • Presentations to Council Executive and Councillors throughout the engagement to ensure all decision makers were fully informed and ready to make decisions as and when required.

Where it’s at

A multi-stage PDA was executed with Traders in Purple (based in Sydney) for the Site in November 2018.  Statutory planning and pre-sales/pre-commitments will take place during 2019 and construction expected to commence in late 2019/early 2020. NAVIRE remains engaged by Council assisting with Project Control Group meetings and the relationship with Traders in Purple more generally.