Private school beats six other buyers to snap up subdivision site

124 and 128 Alice Street, Goodna, is now owned by its neighbour Westside Christian College.

A Greater Brisbane private school has beaten six other buyers to snap up a massive 1.96ha neighbouring site which had been earmarked as a potential 32 lot residential subdivision.

The highly regarded school in Ipswich in the Greater Brisbane region paid $2.5m for the site which was designated residential low density with preliminary conceptual plans for a housing subdivision.

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There was solid interest from developers for the site, but the school won out in the end.

Westside Christian College has been on a major expansion track since first opening in 1977, with fees currently starting at almost $5,000 a year for prep.

Ray White Special Projects agents Christopher Czernik-Wojcicki and James Hanley marketed the site at 124-128 Alice Street, Goodna, on behalf of two local investors – one of whom grew up on the property.

“The campaign generated 83 direct enquiries which encompassed a wide mix of purchaser types including local investors, private developers, development syndicates, childcare developers as well as the neighbouring school,” Mr Czernik-Wojcicki said.

“We received seven formal written offers to purchase, with a wide mix of both price and terms offered.”

The Goodna area in Ipswich is part of one of the fastest growing regions in the state.

Among initiatives at Westside Christian College is a secondary wellbeing hub for older students to “rest, make a cuppa, work through friendship challenges and have conversations with a trusted adult”. Picture: Facebook/Westside Christian College

“The end purchaser lodged a strong cash unconditional offer, with terms which were very appealing to the vendor.”

Mr Hanley said it was a solid purchase for the school given infill development sites were “scarcely available throughout the broader south east Queensland region at present”.

“The purchaser has an excellent reputation as a leading education facility through the Ipswich Region, and we look forward to following their plans for the site.”

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Two investors, one of whom grew up at the site, put the property up for sale.

He said the market was driven by a lack of quality supply that could be developed.

“So much land in South East Queensland is constrained and not developable, so anything which can be developed on – and there’s a town planning pathway towards being able to develop it in the short term – those sites are getting extremely strong competition”.

He had no doubt the community was keen to see the school expand which would benefit the greater Ipswich region.

It was the first time the property had been offered to the market, bordered one side by the Westside Christian College Primary Campus and a residential subdivision another. The school’s secondary campus and Kindergarten are located down the road from the site.

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