Townsville Council calls time on Thuringowa offices

Townsville City Council has placed its premium Thuringowa offices on the market as it relocates its administrative services to its headquarters in Townsville’s CBD.

The government-grade building, which was the former headquarters for Thuringowa City Council before its amalgamation with Townsville in 2008, is being offered for lease or sale.

Located at 86 Thuringowa Drive, the 6612sqm two-storey building is currently occupied by Townsville City Council departments.

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The property includes 166 car parks at ground level, with room for future expansion on the 2.457ha lot. The council is understood to be open to other-use proposals.

The property has dual street frontage, with Thuringowa Drive one of the highest-traffic arterials through Townsville’s western suburbs.

Colliers International Townsville associate director Richard Ferry says the site would suit businesses or government organisations that service Townsville’s western suburbs”

“In the past, the obvious location for such organisation has been the Aitkenvale commercial precinct, however, as we continue to expand west, Kiran (which the site neighbours) is now the obvious locale outside of the CBD,” Ferry says.

Ferry says the building is fully secure and well maintained, with three interconnected pods over two storeys, creating six distinct floor plates, with floor areas ranging from 750sqm to more than 1000sqm.

Townsville City Council’s 2.457ha lot features 166 car parks.

Next to the site is a 5ha council-owned public garden, Dan Gleeson Memorial Gardens, offering green views and recreational opportunities for new tenants.

Council departments currently based at the Thuringowa site, including 300 government employees, have begun relocating to 143 Walker St in the Townsville CBD.

Townsville City Council purchased that building, which is located next to the council’s existing headquarters at 103 Walker Street, in January 2015.

But the library and council customer service counter on the ground floor, which receives payments for parking fines, rates and handles other customer enquiries, will remain at the Thuringowa property.

The property is being marketed by Colliers International for sale or lease, as a whole or on a floor-by-floor basis, via an expressions of interest campaign that closes on March 10.

What we’re actually seeing at the coalface is that Townsville is still high on the list for national organisations and businesses looking to expand

Meanwhile, Townsville has recently seen one of its biggest CBD lease deals of the last 12 months, with the College of Australian Training taking over the former offices of the failed Storm Financial, which collapsed in 2009.

The College has leased the first two floors of the Sturt St office building, accounting for almost 1100sqm of the total 1500sqm, to establish training facilities in hairdressing, beauty and massage on the first floor, and complete a fit-out on the second floor for hospitality, tourism, retail and business tuition.

The College of Australian Training has also taken an option to lease the 200sqm third floor for future expansion, with expectations that the site will host 400 students over the next 12 months.

Colliers International’s Townsville-based commercial sales and leasing executive Kim Addison says the future is bright for the northern Queensland hub.

“There have been some doom and gloom media stories surrounding Townsville recently, but what we’re actually seeing at the coalface is that Townsville is still high on the list for national organisations and businesses looking to expand, including in the education sector,” Addison says.