JACKSON CT MIXED USE PROJECT LISTED FOR SALE
The Jackson Court Activity Centre looks likely to be revitalised with the construction of a supermarket if a buyer can be found who will pay an estimated $12 to $15 million dollars. However, it may not happen any time soon if the property is sold because the permit expiry conditions are written in such a way they could allow a new owner to delay commencement of construction indefinitely.
Leader Article April 2015
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“I am extremely disappointed to hear that the property is on the market when the owner himself worked so hard to garner support with the petitions he organised and now he wants to flog it off to who
knows who.”, writes “Amelia“, “we were told by a councillor that if we did not support the development, as it was presented to council, we would not get our supermarket”. “When the amendment was approved, we were told that construction would start late last year but now we hear that the plans have been altered without notifying the public.
An article in the Manningham Leader, on the 13th of April 2015 had reported that the five storey multi use development had been advertised for sale as “the development opportunity of the year” but owner Mr Mimmo said the property was not for sale at that stage and had been listed on an agent’s website without his knowledge.
Leader Article April 2015
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The following conditions apply for the expiry date of the permit
This permit will expire if any one of the following circumstances apply:
The development is not started within four (4) years of the date of the issue of this permit;
The development is not completed within six (6) years of the date of this permit;
The use is not commenced within six (6) years of the date of this permit.
But here is the kicker..
But the responsible Authority may extend these times if a request is made in writing before the permit expires or within six months afterwards.
DEVELOP THE SIGNATURE PIECE OF DONCASTER’S POPULAR JACKSON COURT SHOPPING CENTRE
3-11 MITCHELL STREET, DONCASTER EAST
– Highly strategic 3,661sqm* landholding in the heart of Doncaster East
– Permit approved for a 5 level mixed use development. Plans include;
– 69 apartments
– 1,151sqm* top floor hospitality venue, suiting conversion to 13* additional apartments (STCA)
– 2,259sqm* ground level retail across 4 tenancies, including supermarket site
– Existing improvements and short-term income
– Adjoining highly regarded Jackson Court Shopping Centre, featuring an array of cafes, restaurants, and other service retail
– Outstanding CBD linkage via the Eastern Freeway, with access 1.2kms* to the south via Wetherby Road
– Close to educational institutions including Doncaster Secondary College and Doncaster Gardens Primary School, plus parks and reserve.
7 Comments
After getting the residents of Jackson Court to support the development, on the proviso it included a supermarket, we are now informed the proponent wants to sell the whole caboodle. The Councillors who were promoting the project could not have known but they did know of the ridiculous permit expiry conditions before they endorsed the project.
This is not a good deal for the centre because the building of a supermarket relies solely on the performance of a land owner and it could take forever to be finished especially now that the land is on the market. Supermarket operators are not going to hang around forever in a retail landscape that is changing by the day. We should not have put our eggs in one basket by extending special concessions, including an extraordinary maximum height of limit of 19 metres, to only one parcel of land. Surely if we wanted a supermarket built as quickly as possible it would have made more sense to prescribe a more acceptable maximum height limit of 14.5m across the entire centre thereby by expanding the options without having to kowtow to a single owner. This was one of the reasons why the Manningham Planning Dept had rejected this proposal.
Experts speaking for the development submitted that even if the entire retail area of 2300m2 was to be used exclusively for a supermarket, without including “the more lucrative specialty shops”, “it would only fulfill local convenience grocery needs and would not be expected to replace primary shopping trips to larger surrounding supermarkets” Given that the permit conditions specify a minimum area of only 1300m2, you have to question the extent of the centre’s so called reinvigoration if we still have to travel to Devon Plaza, and Tunstall Square.
Council is quite obliging when it comes to extending permits. I know of one permit for a mixed use on Doncaster Hill that was issued in October 2001 and would still be valid today had the Chinese developer, who recently purchased the land, not changed the plan. Construction could start sometime this year which means the building site would have been vacant for nearly 17 years. There were several other development sites on Doncaster Hill that have remained vacant, with their original permits, for more than 10 years.
The more complex the development the longer the delay in commencement.
Mr Mimmo has every right to sell the land if he so desires or he still may develop it himself later on.
Diane
This will be our best chance to get a supermarket at Jackson Court since Woolworths left the area 8 years ago. Once construction of the building has begun, 6 years or more won’t make much difference because we know that a supermarket provision is a mandatory condition of the permit. I hope that whoever buys the land is in a position to start the project immediately and not a speculator looking to resell the permit.
I tipped this project would wind up in the hands of an overseas investor.
The councillors, led by three who were quite vocal, had rejected the advice of the Manningham Statutory Planning.
The department had spent more than $12,000 on a consultant’s report that recommended that all properties in the centre have a maximum height of 14.5m. (giving other site owners an equal opportunity to redevelop)
“The development would have a detrimental impact on adjoining residences and set a precedent for consideration of heights in and around other Neighbourhood Activity Centres”. The larger Tunstall Square activity centre had been prescribed a maximum height of 13.5m..
It is illegal for a real estate agent to advertise a property for sale without an authority signed by the vendor. I find it difficult to believe that an agent would do this without the knowledge of the owner.