Richlands Archives - Page 3 of 3

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.