A prime development site has hit the market near the new $300 million Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville’s CBD.

Local development company the Honeycombes Property Group is selling the former South Yards railway workshop site, a 17.2ha parcel zoned for mixed use.

Colliers International Queensland director for investment services Sam Biggins said they were already fielding calls about the property

“The underlying land is zoned mixed use, so ultimately it’s a redevelopment site,” Mr Biggins said.

“Typically with urban renewal projects a developer will see the idea and wait 15 years for the relevant State authorities to build some sort of infrastructure to help it grow.

“In this instance we have been very fortunate in that the government has delivered that stadium. It’s there. So the catalysts for change and regeneration of that precinct are now active.”

A key point of difference for this land was that it had a significant holding income of just under $900,000 per year, he said.

Local engineering and fabrication business Wulguru Steel were current tennants on part of the site, with operations including servicing rail cars, Mr Biggins said.

“There are a number of large development sites for sale in most markets at the moment, but very few of them have a stable income stream attached to them of this scale and are located on the boundary of the CBD, plus have a new $300 million piece of public infrastructure adjacent to their boundary,” he said.

Honeycombes Property Group secured the land in a deal with Aurizon in 2017. In an announcement at the time Honeycombes managing director Peter Honeycombe said the group’s vision for South Yards included ‘a diverse mix of residential, retail, commercial and entertainment’.

Mr Biggins said the size of the parcel meant there were many different development outcomes to explore. He believed Townsville City Council would want to see a masterplanned development rather than fragmented development on the key site.

He would expect the land to sell for in the order of $17 million.