Mosaic in acquisition mode after $20m spend

Brisbane-based developer Mosaic Property Group is in acquisition mode, spending more than $20 million in several site acquisitions across South East Queensland.The boutique developer has secured two sites across the middle ring of Brisbane, one beachside at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, and one fronting Maroochy River on the Sunshine Coast with plans to develop over $240 million in apartment projects.At Indooroopilly in Brisbane’s west, Mosaic has paid $3.1 million for two lots totalling 1693sqm in Lambert Road, where it is planning the $18 million Vive residential apartments.To the south of the CBD in Upper Mount Gravatt, Mosaic is laying plans for the seven-level Curio development on a 1396sqm parcel in Mascar Street purchased for $2 million. The $35 million Curio will have 42 two and three-bedroom apartments.On the Gold Coast the group paid $7.025 million for the 1797sqm parcel at 43-49 Peerless Avenue, Mermaid Beach in an off-market transaction involving four separate properties.Mosaic is planning an $81 million apartment project for the site, which is just metres from the city’s Millionaires’ Row. The project will have approximately 90 apartments with many offering uninterrupted ocean views.North of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast Mosaic has paid $8.1 million for three sites on Duporth Avenue totalling 4049sqm, where it plans to develop two luxury towers with a combined value of $87 million.Mr Monahan said extensive in-house research had prompted the purchases after the company had refrained from Brisbane’s apartment sector in recent years.“We stayed out of apartment sites in Brisbane for a few years because there was so much activity and the fundamentals were not sustainable,” said Mr Monahan.“But we now see an opportunity to deliver high quality, boutique product that offers strong growth prospects and returns for our buyers, which is what drives Mosaic.“We believe Brisbane will be the strongest residential market in Australia over the next five years because it is intrinsically under-valued when compared with the other big east-coast cities.”Mr Monahan said both Brisbane projects would be aimed at the undersupplied owner-occupier apartment market in prime suburbs of inner Brisbane.He said both Indooroopilly and Upper Mount Gravatt are well supported by newly redeveloped shopping centres, universities, schools, excellent infrastructure and public transport options, lifestyle amenity and high demand relative to supply.“Any oversupply in Brisbane’s apartment sector is of inner-city investor stock, which is not Mosaic’s focus. And in any case, current predictions see this stock being absorbed by the market by late 2019.”According to new research from CoreLogic RP Data, Brisbane is well placed to take over as the best performing capital city housing market over the next five years thanks to an upswing in investment, employment, and interstate and overseas migration.Mr Monahan said Brisbane and South East Queensland (SEQ) were poised for growth emanating from $18.2 billion in major infrastructure projects that were either under way or about to start.Mosaic’s unnamed tower at Mermaid Beach is the second Gold Coast project for the developer, which is progressing a boutique housing development, Elm by Mosaic, at Ormeau.Mr Monahan said the group was thrilled to acquire such a unique parcel and was eager to purchase more sites in key Gold Coast beachside hubs.Mosaic’s $8.1 million spend in Maroochydore follows a $7.25 million site acquisition in Coolum a year ago, where locals and owner occupiers dominate sales in the boutique apartment project Drift, which is under construction.Founded by Brook Monahan in Brisbane and rebranded in 2012, Mosaic Property Group now has three offices, over 100 staff and a variety of projects across Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Moreton and Gold Coast.To date, the company has delivered $305 million worth of projects, with a further $202 million under construction and $493 million in the pipeline or in pre-release.