Question – Macquarie Point Development
Questions asked by the Hon Meg Webb MLC on 23 Nov 2021 and answered by the Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing on 8 March 2022
With regard to the Macquarie Point Development Site:
Question 1 – Can the Government provide advice from the Office of the Valuer-General, or any other independent source, regarding:
(a) the current and potential estimated value of the Macquarie Point development site; and
(b) the impact of rezoning on the estimated value of the Macquarie Point development site?
Answer 1
(a) The current land value as stated in the 2021 Macquarie Point development Corporation Annual Report is $40.5m with an estimated public and private development/investment opportunity of some $1 billion once completed.
(b) The land value reflects improvements that have occurred to the site over the last decade and includes remediation works, site improvements such as the road works and rezoning.
The impact of planning changes that occurred several years ago would be impossible to separate out from the other impacts which have improved the overall site value over the last decade or so.
Question 2 – Can the Government:
(a) detail why, and on the basis of what option assessment process, the decision was made to sell the site to private sector developers, instead of dedicating it as a common open facility for all state citizens;
(b) confirm that even should a developer need to borrow significant funds to complete the current proposed residential and commercial concepts, that the ‘gifted’ equity of Crown land will enable a significant profit to be gained by the developer and bank/s involved; and
(c) detail any evaluation undertaken to determine whether, and how, this one- time profit from the sale of the Macquarie Development site is in the public interest, given that the majority of the Tasmanian people will not be able to participate in the proposed scheme?
Answer 2
(a) The Escarpment, which I assume the Member for Nelson is referring to in her question, is a 8,797 square metre parcel of land. This development represents only 10 per cent of the overall Macquarie Point site, being 9.3 hectares in total.
The Escarpment is also the first of seven developments to occur at Macquarie Point – as per the Masterplan and details in the Corporation’s Master Development Plan; both of which are publicly available on the Corporation’s website.
The process for sale of The Escarpment commenced in April 2020, when the Corporation announced the first stage of land release through public Registration of Interest. This process was used to test market appetite for development in light of the uncertainties in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing subsequently announced the Competitive Bid process would commence with a Request for Expression of Interest, which received strong interest from local, national, and international parties interested in The Escarpment. Two proponents were subsequently announced by the Minister as entering the Request for Proposal Stage during the Budget Estimates process just gone,
This information is available on the Corporation’s website.
Once fully developed, some 45,000 square metres of public open space will be available on site wit ha further 34,000 square metres of ground floor activation across each build which must be accessible to the public.
In addition, work has commenced on the following:
- The diversion of the main sewer line.
- Remediation of the Roundhouse
- Remediation of the area which was the former gasworks
- Identifying a long-term tenant for the Goods Shed
At every step of the Corporation’s work, the importance of community, and the ability for the public to access every building on site has been considered.
2(b) The commercial aspects of any developers financing is up to that developer
2(c) Macquarie Point was always going to comprise a mix of public and private uses. This has always been the intention for the site
See more of Meg’s Questions to Parliament.
