Richlands Archives - Forest Lake News

Multi-Warehouse Complex and Logistics Development to Boost Richlands Industrial Landscape

A substantial multi-warehouse complex, spanning over three hectares, will soon grace the Richlands industrial sector, thanks to a new project by Centuria Capital, a prominent Sydney-based fund manager.

This new development located at 616 Boundary Road is designed to boost the industrial landscape of Richlands, a suburb already home to major companies like Coca-Cola and Target.

The site currently houses a 13,763 sqm warehouse, which was acquired by Centuria in 2018 for $15.9 million from logistics group Border Express in a three-year leaseback deal.

The new development plan (DA A006399282) proposes replacing the existing facility with three office-warehouse buildings, totalling 16,718 square metres under roof.

The design of these warehouses has been meticulously considered to complement the surrounding area, which predominantly consists of industrial retailers and warehouses. Each of the three proposed warehouses is designed to be slightly over 14 metres in height, with individual gross floor areas of 6713, 6097, and 3908 square metres.

The design and construction standards of these warehouses are expected to positively contribute to the character of the surrounding industrial development. The project is not just about expansion but also about revitalising an underutilised site to create valuable industrial opportunities, in line with local and state planning frameworks.

Additionally, the proposal includes plans for local employment opportunities both during the construction and operational phases. The complex will also feature onsite parking for up to 116 vehicles and will be accessible from Boundary and Archerfield roads. It’s strategically located close to the Ipswich Motorway and Richlands train station, and is designed to accommodate large vehicles such as 26m B-double semi-trailers and 19m articulated vehicles.

Further bolstering its commitment to the logistics sector, Centuria has also secured a significant $500 million investment from a US firm, earmarked for acquiring strategic industrial assets across Australia. This move signals Centuria’s strategic expansion and growing influence in the logistics and industrial real estate markets.

Published 12-Dec-2023

BK’s Gymnastics Eyes Expansion in Richlands

BK’s Gymnastics, one of Australia’s largest-privately owned health and leisure companies, is planning to expand in Richlands with a children’s “super leisure centre” that will offer gymnastics and swimming lessons in one roof.

Working in partnership with Allstars, a gymnastics club based in Toowomba with over 1,200 participants, BK’s Gymnastics has seen growth in the last two years, driving the group to open new sites and make sports more accessible to the children.

The Richlands centre location has not yet been divulged but it will be one of two new sites to open in Queensland, with Springfield Lakes as the other location. The facilities will be geared towards launching fun programs for children of all ages, including babies who could learn swimming at three months old.

Highlights

BK’s Gymnastics will open a “super leisure centre” for kids in Richlands.
The company has partnered with Allstars gymnastics club to open more sites across the country in 2021.
Gymnastics continues to be a popular sport for children below 12 years old.

“Many in the industry, including BK’s Gymnastics, have been working hard to make the sport more accessible and provide programs for younger kids and a progressive pathway through the sport as kids grow,” Allstars’ owner Vicki Flamsteed said. Ms Flamsteed will steer BK’s Gymnastics growth in the region.

The CEO believes that the training they will provide at their centres will enhance the balance and coordination of the children, especially if they decide to pursue other sports.

In particular, interest in gymnastics among Australian children below 12 has risen to 17 percent in the time of COVID-19, according to an AusPlay survey.

Meanwhile, BK’s Gymnastics and Allstars, under the Belgravia Group banner, launched a new franchise model to target 10 locations across the country for the current calendar year.

To learn more about BK’s Gymnastics, follow their Facebook page.

Stay in Shape at the New Goodlife Richlands

Ready to get back into the groove of things and return to that active, healthy lifestyle? Stay in shape at the newly-opened Goodlife Health Clubs outlet in Richlands.

Goodlife Richlands, which opened its doors to the public on the 8th of April 2021, had a significantly stronger start than anticipated as Australians rushed to return to an active and healthy lifestyle after the complications brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This location is one of the first five new branches lined up nationally in 2021, including an all-new club in West End.

Among the programs offered at the health club include Arena Fitness and Reform Pilates.

Arena Fitness, the health club’s own coach-led boxing program, focuses on burning fat, building strength, and improving fitness. Reform Pilates improves posture and flexibility whilst simultaneously toning muscles.

Goodlife Richlands provides dedicated group exercise studios, cycling areas, saunas, and a functional training zone with sled track, high-quality cardio equipment, strength and weights sections, and squat racks.

All facilities provided by the health club are available to Goodlife members 24/7, meaning those interested in getting into shape can drop by at any time on any day of the week and start exercising — whether it be before work, after, or even both.

Goodlife Health Clubs Richlands can be found at 144 Pine Rd, Richlands, open 24 hours a day for seven days a week. For more information, visit their website here. Follow their social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and special announcements concerning the health club.

New Guardian Childcare and Education Centre Opens in Richlands

Guardian Childcare and Education, a leading early learning provider with over 120 sites across the country, has opened a new world-class centre in Richlands. The custom-designed facility is the centre’s third state-of-the-art site to open in Brisbane in the last 12 months after Taringa and Coopers Plain.

Located near the Richlands train station and within the HomeCo shopping centre, the facility has been ready to welcome children since 29 March 2021. With an experienced team of passionate educators, Guardian Childcare and Education is a convenient option for young families setting their roots around the developing areas of the suburb.

About 135 children between the ages of six weeks old to six years old can enroll at this Richlands site and experience high-quality learning and rearing across its nine dedicated learning spaces.

The centre has been designed with two playgrounds, a central outdoor play area and garden spaces for communal learning and socialisation. Lunch prepared by a full-time chef is served at the piazza, where meal-times are also vital to the children’s skill and social development. Babies, on the other hand, have their own sleeping corners and a secure and dedicated play area.

“The centre is unique not only in its beautiful environments, great location and easy access, but, more importantly, its representation of the local community, employing multi-lingual educators from the local area,” Megan Black, the General Manager of New Centres, said.

The children’s time at Guardian Childcare and Education will help prepare them once they attend formal schooling. For enquiries and for booking a tour of the facilities, visit the online site for Richlands residents.

Funds Ready for Richlands and Inala Parks

Brisbane City Council is moving forward with plans to develop or upgrade two parklands, located in Richlands and Inala, after the determination of the funds set for park recreation projects.

The Council’s committee for the environment, parks and sustainability revealed that nine suburban parks will be the priority, following a series of public consultations with residents in 2020.

In Richlands, a land area filled with just grass and trees will be turned into the Castamore Way Park. Located by the slope on Progress Road, Council has plans to level off the area to create a junior playground with plenty of green space for family picnics and trees for shade.

A sandstone block will also be built as a retaining wall against the tree line sitting on the top of the site. There are also plans to create a tree grove, which will serve as the entryway to the new park.

In Inala, a series of refurbishing and refreshing will be undertaken on Thrush Street Park since its facilities are quite old.

Last year, Council conducted a study on the feasibility of these suggestions below from the residents:

improve or install facilities such as picnic and barbecue areas, shelters and tables
create an area for informal sports games
improve pathways and connectivity in the park
upgrade the playground with new equipment
improve lighting
provide shade trees
improve park accessibility

Wade Fitzgerald, the Council’s manager for Major Projects and Asset Coordination, said that whilst there are many considerations for this existing park, the redevelopment’s focus will be on the larger playground.

This site could soon get its very own interactive water play area for children to enjoy. The addition of a rock and pebble stream will provide young residents a nature-based playground.

Mr Fitzgerald said that Council is setting aside $2.2 million for the playgrounds, $2.7 million for the facilities upgrades, $5.8 park development and $3 million for maintenance.

Apart from Richlands and Inala, these other Brisbane parks will also undergo development and upgrades:

Blackwood Street Park, Rochedale
Colmslie Beach Reserve, Murrarie
Gus Davies Park, Bald Hills
Grinstead Park, Shand Street Park, Corbett Street Park linking Enoggera, Alderly and Stafford
Keralgerie Park, Morningside

Development Set for New Retail Centre with KFC in Richlands

A new retail centre with a separate KFC fast food restaurant will soon be developed at a large parcel of land in Richlands.

Located on 29 Garden Road and 205 Government Road, the project, designed by POWE Architects, will entail the construction of four single-story buildings, with a maximum height of 8.2 metres, in two stages.

Three of these buildings will be a mix of retail outlets and food and drink shops with several outdoor dining spaces, whilst KFC will take up the fourth building’s space fronting Garden Road. The layout presented for KFC includes a two-lane drive-thru section.

The retail centre will also have a pedestrian plaza, pedestrian crossings and an open car park for 78 vehicles, including four PWD spots.

“The proposed development has been architecturally designed with a lightweight and contemporary built form responsive to the site constraints and the location of the site,” the developers, Land Partners, stated in its submission. “The buildings are to be low-rise and highly articulated featuring a variety of skillion roof form, openings and doors and outdoor spaces with an extensive range of high-quality material and finishes”. “

Stage 1 of the project comprises the construction of KFC, which Council approved in mid-2020 (DA A005278387). Stage 2 (DA A005654380) covers the retail centre’s construction and is awaiting Council approval.

In Richlands, You Could Save More by Paying off a Mortgage Rather Than Renting, Latest Research Says

Photo credit: Google Maps

Many Greater Brisbane suburbs, including Richlands, offer more savings if you choose to buy a unit with mortgage rather than paying a monthly rent, the latest research revealed.

The latest research from mortgage broker, Aussie, looked into that gap between median rental cost and monthly mortgage repayments by using discounted variable rate and a three year fixed rate. It also assumed a loan-to-value ratio of 90 per cent with a 10 per cent deposit and the life of the loan set at 30 years.

What the Aussie Core Logic Rent Versus Buy report revealed is that in approximately 70 per cent of the regional Queensland suburbs, it is cheaper to buy than to rent.

In Greater Brisbane, for example, Browns Plains and Oxley offer the greatest savings for unit buyers. In particular, mortgage repayments in these locations are cheaper than renting by more than $500. Other suburbs offering the most savings are Waterford West, Springwood, Richlands, Beenleigh, Murrumba Downs, Eagleby, Logan Central, and Woodridge.

According to realestate.com.au, the median unit rent in Richlands is $370 per week, based on 246 unit listings from 1 Nov 2019 to 06 Nov 2020. The median unit price, on the other hand, is $267,000 based on 27 unit sales from 1 Nov 2019 to 02 Nov 2020.

Meanwhile, Kilcoy is where house buyers could realize the biggest savings, almost $470 cheaper than monthly rent costs. Kilcoy is followed by Woodridge, Kingston, Logan Central, Goodna, Macleay Island, Slacks Creek, Laidley, Russell Island, and Leichhardt.

The report also said that 29.3 per cent of Brisbane suburbs offer families more savings by having a mortgage on a house rather than renting a house. However, if you apply a three-year-fixed rate mortgage, that number could still rise to 63.3 per cent. As for units, families could save more on unit mortgages in 76 per cent of Brisbane suburbs and 97 percent when a three-year-fixed rate mortgage is applied.

Aussie CEO John Symond said the market right now is offering opportunities to save more on buying thanks to record low interest rates and government incentives. He added that regional Queensland house rents have risen by 23.5 per cent since the upturn began in late 2016 through mid-2019 while house values grew only one per cent. The growth was further strengthened when mortgage rates started falling in mid-2019.

Ellume to Open $50-Million Facility in Richlands to Escalate COVID-19 Tests

A medical diagnostics company is set to open its $50 million manufacturing facility in Richlands. The new Ellume site at 19 Macgregor Place will focus on producing 15 million tests a month for COVID-19, flu and tuberculosis.

About 450 jobs will need to be filled, including assembling testing kits, before the facility open in the middle of October. These testing kits will be for export to the United States.

Ellume currently has 100 staff at its main site in East Brisbane. Founder Dr Sean Parsons said that they have been developing and improving their world-class technology “to meet global demands” since the swine flu epidemic in 2009.

Dr Parsons said that the company convinced its American partners that setting up a facility in southeast Queensland was more viable than a manufacturing site in the U.S.

Richlands is close to arterial corridors and connections in airports in Wellcamp and Brisbane. With many local skilled workers, Dr Parsons said that southeast Queensland could become the leading business site when it comes to COVID-19 test productions.

The company developed an Access Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test, which runs on a portable digital device called Access eHub. This diagnostic tool that promises results in less than 15 minutes or three minutes for strong positive cases.

Access eHub could handle eight samples and process at least 30 samples within an hour, allowing laboratories to run independent tests more efficiently.

“The Access eHub platform offers a new combination of speed and scale that marks an important step towards decentralised mass testing that health authorities all over the world have been urgently seeking,” Dr Parsons said.

BCC Funds Allocation for Forest Lake, Other Southwest Suburbs Road Projects Revealed

The Council has allocated funds under its 2019-20 Budget for several road projects for Brisbane’s southwest suburbs including Forest Lake, Ellen Grove, Richlands, Pallara, and Inala.

Out of the $3.15 billion budget, the Brisbane City Council will spend $818 million for infrastructure projects that will help ease congestion including major intersection upgrades, projects to combat congestion, and road resurfacing.

“Team Schrinner is investing $818 million to help get residents home quicker and safer,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

Some key highlights of the Council infrastructure projects budget allocation, according to Lord Mayor Schrinner, include key corridor upgrades at Kingsford Smith Drive with additional lanes, as well as intersection upgrade projects which will include Camp Hill, Runcorn, Nundah, Middle Park, and South Brisbane.

Budget allocation for Southwest suburbs Forest Lake, Ellen Grove, Richlands, Inala, and Pallara infrastructure project:

Roads Network Resurfacing	Suburb	Proposed $000
Grand Avenue	Forest Lake	160
Joseph Banks Avenue	Forest Lake	215
June Court	Ellen Grove	33
Muriel Avenue	Ellen Grove	123
Pauline Avenue	Ellen Grove	68
Wedgetail Street	Inala	161
Acer Street	Inala	49
Aquarius Street	Inala	60
Clematis Street	Inala	108
Goldfinch Street	Inala	182
Lepus Street	Inala	45
Magnolia Street	Inala	135
Wedgetail Street	Inala	161
Freeman Road	Richlands	503
Kimberley Street	Richlands	55
Blunder Road	Pallara	278

Congestion Busting Projects	Suburb	Proposed $000
Inala Avenue at Blunder Road	Inala	619
Progress Rd at Archerfield Rd	Richlands	540

Major Traffic Improvements – Intersections	Suburb	Proposed $000
Azalea Street/Eugenia Street	Inala	201

*Source: Annual Plan and Budget Brisbane City Council

Council will also allocate funds for the construction of dedicated river walks and bikeways. This will include a $1.6-million budget allocation to provide safer paths to schools and a $25.5-million investment on bikeway links in Nudgee, Murarrie, Wakerley and Wishart as well as the construction of Botanic Gardens Riverwalk.

Other fund allocations include the $24.6-million for the Wynnum Road corridor upgrade project and $24.8 million to complete the Murphy and Ellison roads roundabout upgrade in Geebung. Lastly, Council have also committed $40 million towards the construction of Lindum Open Level Crossing.