Maroochydore City Centre – the Sunshine Coast’s new Central Business District – is underway with the first sod turning held this week at its new landmark commercial building, Foundation Place.
The $30 million dollar commercial premises is the first building to emerge in the core commercial area in what will become the new heart of the Sunshine Coast, and is being delivered by locally-based developers Evans Long.
Evans Long Partner, Matt Evans said it was rewarding to see the project reach this point in its development.
“In delivering Foundation Place, we are achieving a lot of firsts, and the entire Evans Long team are proud to witness the sod-turning of this innovative building take place today,” Mr Evans said.
Foundation Place is the first privately owned building on the Sunshine Coast to sign a commitment agreement to achieve a Five Star rating under the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS).
In keeping with the ethos of SunCentral, environmentally sustainable features include the Coast’s first green wall, solar panels, energy-efficient air-conditioning and lighting and the smart use of natural light and ventilation.
“Foundation Place is aptly named as this cutting-edge building is going to set the tone for what is to come in the new Maroochydore City Centre,” Mr Evans said.
Sunshine Coast Council Mayor Mark Jamieson said today’s sod-turning represented an exciting milestone for the new Maroochydore City.
“It is truly rewarding to be part of the commencement of construction for the first commercial building to come out of the ground in what will be Australia’s most contemporary, sustainable and connected city,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“I cannot think of a better way to embark on the journey than with a landmark building that represents the values and principles behind the new CBD: innovation, sustainability and world-leading.”
According to the creators, the new Maroochydore City Centre is packed with high tech features, breaking new ground with its extensive use of smart technology to create a cleaner, greener, more liveable and dynamic city centre.
Mr Evans said as the City Centre’s first commercial offering, Foundation Place is set to achieve a new level of office and retail accommodation not seen before on the Sunshine Coast.
“With eight levels overlooking the CBD’s Urban Square – which is all that separates this development from the new Sunshine Coast Council City Hall which will be home to more than 600 council employees – Foundation Place is perfectly positioned for forward-thinking businesses who desire modern facilities, convenience and to be one of the first to take advantage of the new CBD,” he said.
Foundation Place is expected to be open for business in the first quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile Australian hotel investment and development company, Pro-Invest, has purchased a site in the new Maroochydore CBD and lodged a development application with Economic Development Queensland for a new select-service upper midscale hotel.
The 167 room hotel will be located in the heart of the new Maroochydore CBD, which will become the commercial and administrative hub of the rapidly growing Sunshine Coast region.
Pro-Invest has a Master Development Agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to develop and operate the Holiday Inn Express brand in Australia and New Zealand under franchise, and when finalised, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sunshine Coast would be the 12th hotel developed by Pro-Invest in the region. It will be the company’s second hotel development in Queensland after opening the Holiday Inn Express Brisbane Central in 2017.
The nine-storey Holiday Inn Express & Suites is planned to have 167 rooms, a swimming pool, bar and dining venue, conference and function facilities, and ground-level retail.
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How well this will work may depend on whether the heavy and/or light rail gets built. I’m not sure how much the state government is willing to spend on either of these at the moment.
Looks fabulous.
looks wonderful