Industrial assets are leading the way in the commercial Mackay market, said Des Besanko, Managing Director of Raine & Horne Commercial Mackay.

“We are coming to that stage where most vacant standalone facilities are leased, and there is a shortage of good, vacant, standalone sheds with good specs such as cranes, hardstands and so on.”

He adds, “We are at the point where we are having conversations with companies and explaining that if they need anything bigger they need to consider the option of buying land and constructing a new facility.”

The mining service sector is a significant influence on the commercial market in Mackay. A stronger mining sector is bringing jobs back to the region, which is improving the town’s economic outlook. A stronger economy, in turn, is supporting the residential and retail asset market. To demonstrate the influence of the mining services sector in Mackay, property trust Trilogy Funds Management secured two properties in Paget for a combined $11.25 million in a deal brokered by Des Besanko and Col Wilson of Raine & Horne Commercial Mackay.

The properties are tenanted by mining services firms, Independent Mining Services and Alfagomma Australia Pty Ltd, notes Col. “After five years, the Mackay industrial market is finally starting to turn around with investor confidence growing,” he said. “Savvy investors are picking up quality assets with long-term leases between 4-7 years on yields between 8.5-9.5%.