REDLAND City Council continues to unload CBD land, selling its 206-lot car park behind Woolies to developer Stockland.
Stockland already owns the adjoining commercial complex where Woolworths is the major tenant and will use the area as a car park in the short term but says it has no long term plans.
To resolve access issues for the car park, council bought Cleveland Plaza on Bloomfield, the CBD’s main street, which had an easement attached.
Cleveland Plaza includes Stephen Dibb Jewellery, Binary Music and Brown’s Bakery Cafe.
A Redland City Council spokesperson said car park ownership was transferred to Redland Investment Corporation in February last year.
“RIC was then able to resolve the issues and improved the property by creating a new access road for the Bloomfield Street shops and subsequently sold the 9095 square metre site to Stockland on 15 December 2017,” she said.
Sale of the land would save council having to maintain the area.
“To reduce maintenance costs and allow Stocklands to consolidate the land into its nearby holdings, council has intended to sell the property to Stocklands for some time but easements existed over the property preventing the sale,” she said.
Residents have previously complained that council did not properly maintain the car park, saying it had pot holes and was dangerous, especially for the elderly.
The investment corporation has moved into offices upstairs at Cleveland Plaza.
A Stockland spokesperson said the company was planning interim upgrades to the car park.
“Stockland has no further development plans for the site at this stage,” she said.
Council and the state government have been under the hammer over the number of car parks at Cleveland, especially with the opening of the Chef’s Inc eating out area on a council car park behind the Cleveland Library.
The proposed residential redevelopment of state land at Cleveland Railway Station also will include just 17 extra parks. Council also sold part of the car park opposite Coles on Wynard Street in 2016, losing about a dozen parks. To make up for this loss, council will add 20 parks to Redlands Performing Arts Centre.
Council says Cleveland has more than 1200 parks within a 400 metre radius of the CBD.
Money from sales recommended by the investment corporation, a council subsidiary, would be reinvested or put into a fund to provide inter-generational wealth.
In another move in January, council bought 6.69 hectares at 61-73 Macarthur Street, Alexandra Hills after years of negotiation with the state government.
Zoned as conservation on land designated for community infrastructure, the block was home to a disused research station. Use of the land is yet to be determined.
Mayor Karen Williams said the land was in the heart of the city and contained important vegetation and major potential in terms of community use.
“… It contains high value bushland and high value rehabilitation koala habitat within a Priority Koala Assessable Development Area according to state government mapping,” she said.
