Four years ago, local man Rodney Thompson bought a prime South Goulburn site for just over $1 million.
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On Tuesday, Sydney agent Burgess Rawson sold it for $4.5 million to a Chinese investor. Over the past four years Mr Thompson has redeveloped the 4317 square metre block on the corner of Hume Street and Ducks Lane into a Red Rooster outlet and Woolworths Caltex service station.
On Wednesday, the man who bought his first home at age 17 and has been developing ever since, was smiling.
“I’m very happy with the result,” Mr Thompson told The Post.
“The yield was very tight (5.1 per cent) so that’s a very good price.”
Twenty-five contracts were issued for the land, according to Commercial Real Estate. Five auction bidders vied for the block which eventually went to the Sydney-based investor.
Mr Thompson’s company, Great Southern Developments Pty Ltd, bought the excess land from nearby Bunnings. Initially he enlisted Woolworths to take the entire block but when the chain gave back a portion, he signed up Red Rooster.
“It’s a good site with high exposure and good traffic flow. It’s a popular destination up that end with Trapper’s Bakery (opposite),” he said.
“It’s also increased competition with the petrol.”
Woolworths and Red Rooster have 15 and 10 year leases respectively on the land. Mr Thompson said the site’s depreciation was another selling point.
Burgess Rawson is also trying to lease another proposed development on Hume Street, next to the Big Merino. DMA Group lodged a DA for an Oporto Chicken, Harry’s Cafe de Wheels and a drive-through coffee outlet last year.
In the same precinct, Macarthur Grange Breweries is developing a brewery on the corner of Ducks Lane and Hume Street, with work expected to start in earnest soon.
Mr Thompson said Goulburn was performing strongly on the commercial and residential fronts.
“You see a lot of houses going up at Marys Mount and everywhere so people are moving here,” he said.
“They’re selling up in Sydney and coming from Canberra as well. The number of people commuting between Goulburn and Canberra every morning is astonishing.”
Mr Thompson said while Goulburn had many of the key tenants here, it was a matter of drawing new players. Hungry Jacks’ construction was also a good sign.
The city also shouldn’t knock back Chinese investment if it meant jobs and growth, he argued.
“The way it’s going, Goulburn has a story to tell and I only see it growing,” he told The Post.
But he believed the city needed a university campus and improved CBD parking facilities to help take it to the next level.