Morayfield, a fast-growing suburb 44 kilometres north of Brisbane, has been chosen as the site of Queensland’s newest Taco Bell. With this Morayfield development has seen a boost. The restaurant was pre-leased in a new highway service centre at 182-190 Morayfield Rd. Originally the owner decided to sell this fantastic, high-profile 6500 sqm site, and instructed us to take the property to market with 3 existing tenancies including Anaconda. Anaconda were prepared to vacate so their premises, at the rear of the site, could have been offered for vacant possession.
In our view, however, this was simply too good a property for anyone to sell! Instead, we recommended holding the property and pre-leasing new tenancies prior to a substantial redevelopment.
We considered the building occupied by Anaconda, which was a  high-clearance showroom warehouse with incredible profile to busy Morayfield road, would ideally be suited to a retailer who would benefit from a potential first floor mezzanine to double the trading space. We spread our net of potential tenants far and wide to make sure our client found the best possible operator, but our best guess was that the end-user would be a self-storage operator.
After many negotiations with a number of retailers, however, that’s not how things worked out!
Instead we were inundated with interest from numerous big-branded service stations and the international fast-food giant, Taco Bell (Collins Foods Ltd).
It turned out to be one of the most complex negotiations we’ve ever managed.
In order for the site and the deal to work with the available land, we had to overcome a multitude of complications.
Firstly, we needed both tenants to commit simultaneously. We could not commit one without the other, because the irregular shapes of both tenancies needed to fit together. Retaining visibility and access to the existing tenancies at the rear (including Anaconda, who decided to stay) meant all parties needed  to compromise.
After that, council, main roads and building constraints added additional challenges and the massive under-ground storm water tanks added additional cost. All this put considerable pressure of achieving the viable commercial rental and lease terms for the tenants and owners.
It was all worth it in the end! The development is fantastic: fresh and modern in design, useful to the surrounding community, and efficient in its use of space and resources. We understand from the fast food operators that this is one of the best trading regions in Queensland, so the whole development has been created with good foundation.
It took many years to create and is the direct cause of my receding hairline, but we are particularly proud of this development. It would never have happened without the ongoing confidence of our client, who stumped up the funds to facilitate the myriad of professionals required for engineering, planning & design, well before any commitments were made.
For more information in regards to Morayfield development, give Rob Stanley-Turner a call from Box Commercial.
By Robert Stanley-Turner
