A low tide in Beenleigh has meant commercial blocks have sat vacant for years, according to a local agent.
But the “tidal” nature of the retail market could suggest strong interest from businesses is just around the corner.
Meanwhile, vacant residential houses and blocks across the suburb have caught the eye of another agent and property manager, who says demand from buyers and renters is so strong agents are “tripping over themselves”.
“There is either a feast or a famine,” sales and leasing consultant Mark Osmond from The Property Hub said.
“When the tide is out, it doesn’t matter what you do – you can drop the rent, you can offer incentives, you can do anything – there is just nothing.
“Then you get a period where the tide starts to come in and all of a sudden everybody wants something that might have been vacant for a long time.”
Beenleigh’s 73 Main Street has finally found a new occupant following four years of vacancy after its previous tenant, Subway, moved out.
Since then Mr Osmond was close to securing deals on numerous occassions, but said they always fell through.
“We have recently finalised a lease with a long-term laundromat… and they are in the process of starting to do the fitout on the property,” he said.
Another empty block can be found at 125 City Road in Beenleigh, which has been vacant for around three years.
“It is a really good location, nice tenancy, good natural light, but it has been avaliable for a long time,” Mr Osmond said.
“Why hasn’t a retailer come in there and thought it would be a good gift shop, or barbershop, or an ice creamery?”
While the tide appears to to be out in the retail space, Mr Osmond said it was high tide in the industrial market.
“A lot of the demand is in the industrial properties for sale and for lease, and for industrial land.”
In the residential property market, sales agent and property manager Jane Scope said there were too many people looking to buy an insufficient number of homes.
She said it was unusual to see several vacant homes across Beenleigh during a time of such high demand.
“If it is a rental property that is vacant, it usually means the rent is too high,” she said.
“But it could be hundreds of reasons – properties that have just been sold and new owners haven’t moved in yet, they could be AirBnbs… or they could be under development applications.”
Ms Scope said properties could also be vacant because developers are buying them, “sitting on” them, and waiting for a more lucrative market.
Mr Osmond said high rents could also be blamed for vacant retail blocks.
He said trends like these weren’t “something new”.
“When I started in 2007 when we had the GFC, we had properties that were vacant one, two or three years,” he said.
“We still have long-term vacancies, and you sit back and wonder: why is this not leased?
“The rent seems to be fine, the position is good, the property is good – we’re just not getting the enquiry.”
