Site acquisition for property developers
Sites are won on information and timing. The blocks worth buying rarely sit on a portal long enough for a full feasibility, and the ones that do sit there usually have a planning, service or contamination reason behind them.
We source and secure development sites on the buy side only. We hold no listings, take no commission from sellers and hold no interest in the projects we work on.
Site sourcing before the market sees it
Most of what we secure for developers is not advertised. We approach owners directly, work through amalgamation opportunities where two or three titles make a project that one title cannot, and maintain relationships with agents who bring us sites before they are marketed.
We work to a written site brief: product type, target yield, budget, planning parameters and the geography you can actually deliver in.
- Direct owner approaches on target streets and precincts
- Amalgamation and adjoining title strategies
- Agent network access ahead of formal marketing
- Deceased estates, distressed positions and long held holdings
Planning and yield tested before you offer
Zoning is only the starting point. We test the site against the applicable planning scheme, overlays, height and density provisions, setbacks, character and heritage constraints, flood and overland flow, vegetation and traffic.
The output is a realistic yield range and the approval path to get there, rather than a best case number that only works if council agrees to everything.
- Zoning, overlays and code versus impact assessable pathway
- Achievable yield range with the constraints applied
- Precedent approvals nearby and how council has actually decided
- Likely approval timeframe and the risk sitting inside it
Feasibility on real numbers
A site is worth what the feasibility says it is worth, not what the vendor hopes. We work back from realistic end values and current build costs to a residual land value, and we hold the line on it.
Infrastructure charges, service augmentation, retaining and civil works, contamination and demolition are where feasibilities usually fail. We price them in before the offer rather than discovering them in due diligence.
- Residual land value derived from end value and build cost
- Infrastructure charges and headworks estimated early
- Services capacity, sewer alignment, power and stormwater checked
- Contamination, fill, acid sulfate soils and demolition allowances
Terms that protect your capital
Price is only part of the negotiation. On development sites the structure of the deal is often worth more than the discount.
We negotiate DA conditional periods, extended settlements, staged deposits, deposit release positions, put and call arrangements and vendor terms where they suit both sides, so you are not funding a site through an approval process you do not control.
Englobo, infill and landbanking
The work looks different at each scale. A single infill block turns on the planning scheme and the neighbours. Englobo land turns on infrastructure sequencing, development fronts and where the planning is genuinely heading.
We act across both, including holdings bought for a future position rather than an immediate start.
Site Acquisition Call
A 20 minute call on the product you deliver, the site parameters that work, and where we are currently finding stock. No pitch and no obligation.
- 01Product type, delivery capacity and target project size
- 02Planning parameters and geography that suit your model
- 03Residual land value the feasibility supports
- 04Where we would be looking now, and what we would avoid
- Do you provide feasibility or just find sites?
- Both. Every site we present comes with a yield range, a residual land value and the assumptions behind it. We work alongside your town planner, surveyor and QS rather than replacing them.
- What size sites do you work on?
- From single infill blocks and small unit sites through to englobo land and larger mixed use holdings.
- Can you negotiate a DA conditional contract?
- Yes. Conditional periods, staged deposits, extended settlements and put and call structures are a normal part of what we negotiate on site acquisitions.
- What does it cost?
- Development site acquisitions carry a 2.5% + GST success fee on the purchase price, with an initial engagement fee at the start of the mandate. Ongoing site sourcing mandates can be scoped on a retainer.
- Will you review a site we have already found?
- Yes. We underwrite the feasibility, test the planning position and negotiate on a scoped basis where the site is already identified.
Healthcare, FIFO, Mining, Oil & Gas
For people on swing rosters with strong income and no time. We do the searching, inspecting and negotiating while you are on site.
Business Owners & Operators
For owners who are tired of paying rent and want the building on their own balance sheet, including SMSF purchase and lease back.
Home Buyers & Families
For first home buyers, upsizers and families who are working full time and losing weekends to open homes.
Residential Investors
For investors buying houses, units and land in Queensland who want the numbers checked before they buy, not after.
Retail, Commercial & Industrial Investors
For investors moving into tenanted retail, office and industrial assets, where the lease and the tenant matter as much as the building.