The full house sign has gone up at Queensland’s first purpose built, prestigious automotive precinct, with the final two sites in the Robina Automall settling in the past month.
Developed by Robina Group, the Automall sits within the rapidly expanding CBDRobina precinct at the geographical heart of Gold Coast City.
A cutting edge style concept, Robina Automall was launched in the mid-1990s and covers a total area of 7.81 hectares.
It is the location for leading automotive operators with a comprehensive range of new car showrooms including Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Mazda, Volkswagen, Holden, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan.
Robina Group General Manager Hylton Slater said the final two sites within the Automall were purchased by an existing operator, Hinterland Toyota. He said the value of the site sales was subject to a confidentiality condition.
“It is a major milestone for us to see the final two parcels sell as a concept such as a purpose designed automall was seen as very optimistic when we first launched it,” he said.
“In the USA such automotive hubs are commonplace, but not in Australia.
“Now that it is complete, the benefits of such a concept become obvious.
“It also serves as a prime example of the planning and vision of the whole CBDRobina hub and how it services the entire region.”
Mr Slater said that in addition to major dealerships represented in the Automall there was also used vehicles and ancillary automotive services such as Signature Tyres, Auto Leaders and Robina Car and Dog Wash. He said additional commercial land was still available in CBDRobina for futher automotive and other business uses and they could benefit from the ‘pulling power’ of the Automall .
Hinterland Toyota principal, Tony Stark, secured his first site within the Robina Automall in 2010 with the purchase of a 4247 square metre parcel. In 2012 he snapped up an adjoining Brabham Circuit site of 4000 square metres. His latest purchase, two sites of 1507 and 2515 square metres adjoining his existing site, brings Stark’s total Robina land holding to over 1.2 hectares.
The company has operated in Gold Coast City for almost 30 years and has other outlets at Burleigh Heads and Nerang.
Mr Stark said his latest purchase at the Robina Automall allowed for growth in the future as he planned to expand Hinterland Toyota’s workshop and service facilities. “We have moved our Toyota dealership at Burleigh Heads to Robina and used that location for our caravan and motorhome business,” he said.
“We have a new showroom underway at Nerang and when that is finished mid year we will concentrate our efforts on Robina.
“We have long term plans that involve further franchises, increased activity with used vehicles and ramping up our service and workshop capabilities, and with the land holding we now have within the Robina Automall all those plans can be accommodated.
“With CBDRobina located at the heart of the city it is the logical location for any significant dealership as it enables the business to service the entire Gold Coast City and the urban-region.”
Darrell Irwin, director of special projects for Colliers International Gold Coast negotiated the deals with Hinterland Toyota.
Mr Irwin said the Robina Automall precinct was unique in its nature and also in context to CBDRobina.
“Hinterland Toyota has had a business plan to acquire a significant holding in the Robina Automall after the success of the first stage of their dealership there,” he said.
“We were able to negotiate an acceptable commercial arrangement to allow two more parcels to be purchased over time following their first site purchase.
“The latest sale completes the Robina Automall project and it is an excellent example of foresight and master planning significant development projects which leads to exceptional development outcomes.”
Mr Irwin said that to have so many prime automotive operators with state-of-the-art showrooms and service facilities in the one easy to access location within CBDRobina is something that is unrivalled.
“Hinterland Toyota’s success and willingness to expand in this location is testimony to the success of the overall concept,” he said.
Mr Slater said approximately 86 percent of the Gold Coast City population lives within a 20-minute drive of CBDRobina which is also easily accessible from northern New South Wales and Hinterland towns and communities.
“CBDRobina is the geographical heart of Gold Coast City and the Robina Automall is at the very heart of CBDRobina,” he said.
“There is nothing quite like it in the whole of Queensland and most probably all of Australia.
“Access to the M1 Motorway is easy and that connects CBDRobina to Brisbane and Northern New South Wales.”
Mr Slater said Robina Group has several commercial and residential projects currently underway, and it would continue to undertake leading edge developments on the sites around Robina Town Centre.
