MORE than $100 million in business investment in the past 12 months has funnelled into the City of Logan – South East Queensland’s newest growth region where almost 170,000 sqm in commercial property will be taken up by the end of next year.

International tech companies, a national coffee franchisor and an array of multi-nationals are setting up shop in Logan due to its prime location, spread between Brisbane and Gold Coast, where commercial property opportunities are abundant and affordable.

Sparking this growth fuse is the Berrinba Industrial Area, where Mitre 10 has just constructed a $50 million warehouse. The 27,000 sqm operation will create 110 jobs. Pinnacle Hardware has also taken up 14,000 sqm with a new $22 million distribution centre.

Neighbours will include Queensland Logistics Service (15,000 sqm) Huhtamaki (12,000 sqm) and global technology giant Alphabet who will bring its autonomous drone delivery service Wing to Australia this year and will occupy 15,000 sqm at Berrinba.

The world’s largest online education and training aggregator GO1 will also call Logan home following a Logan City Council initiative to attract investment and projects that provide significant economic benefits and job creation for Logan.

GO1 co-founder vu Tran said running a global company from Queensland made practical sense.

“Logan is a high-growth area and well-connected with its transport infrastructure, making it easy for our staff to travel and have a work-life balance that is the envy of many,” he said.

Nearby at Eagleby, national coffee franchisor Zarraffa’s Coffee has relocated its headquarters from the Gold Coast with a $20 million open plan head office space, combined with a roastery and an expanded warehousing, packaging and distribution hub spanning 18,000 sqm.

It is part of the $50 million Distillery Road Market project undertaken by Zarraffa’s founder and managing director Kenton Campbell.

Set to open before 2021, it will become world class destination, focused around peoples’ love of great food experiences and the communal activities food provides.

The American ex-pat said the timing was right to relocate midway along the growth corridor between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

“The alignment and relocation of facilities for Zarraffa’s and the launch of Kiwanda Café also signifies the start of an incredible destinational opportunity within our new home at Distillery Road Market,” he said.

“Australia really is the land of opportunity and this particular part of the country is the perfect location to grow business, to foster dreams and deliver experiences like no other.”

This entrepreneurial ethos has also spurred others to base in Logan including Dnata, one of the world’s largest air services providers offering ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents; packaging giant Avery Dennison; global logistics company DHL; vehicle transport freighters CEVA; wholesale distributor Metcash; Evolve Group and National Tiles.

Logan City Council Director of Strategy and Sustainability, David Hansen, said Logan boasted a number of key attributes which made it attractive for big business.

“This investment is a great example of the increased business confidence we are seeing in Logan as an increasing number of multinational companies now call the City of Logan home,” he said.

“City of Logan is in a premium location near the M1, has great access to major transport nodes and Brisbane International Airport and has plenty of open space.”

Economic analysis of Logan showed a 3.9 per cent increase in Gross Regional Product (GRP) to $11.77 billion for 2017-18.

In the last financial year Logan’s population grew by almost 2 per cent to 326,615, the number of businesses grew by 3.4 per cent to 21,978 and the number of jobs based in Logan grew by 7.8 per cent to 115,575.

Data shows the number of Logan residents working in the city has increased with the majority of jobs in construction, health and social, retail and manufacturing sectors.

A strategy by City of Logan to fast-track the development of commercial and industrial land to create jobs and attract new business will turn its focus to Park Ridge.

Council commenced its Next Generation Employments Lands Strategy in 2017. The project is designed to promote and facilitate the development of mixed-use, low-impact and medium-impact industry zoned land to provide greater certainty for business, investors and the community.

A key strategic action of the project is to undertake a Park Ridge economic corridor study to efficiently design and deliver infrastructure. The industry zoned area in Park Ridge forms an integral part of the major enterprise and industrial area defined in the Regional Plan of State Government (ShapingSEQ).

Park Ridge and Priority Development Areas Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone collectively account for 45 per cent of the city’s economic growth, or almost 30,000 jobs, of the projected employment of 66,000 jobs for the city by 2041.

Council’s Director of Strategy and Sustainability David Hansen, said Park Ridge remains undeveloped and untested in the market.

“It is important to undertake more detailed land use and infrastructure planning to increase investor confidence and protect the industrial zoned area from encroachment,” he said.

“Failure to do so will result in Logan losing its regional competitiveness in the supply of major industrial zoned land within the next five to10 years.”

Mr Hansen said Park Ridge risked missing out on vital infrastructure investment unless this strategy is developed and implemented to ensure its future competitiveness.

“For Park Ridge to remain competitive, the efficient design and delivery of infrastructure, including roads, needs to be further explored. Issues such as improved accessibility for the north-south connectivity are essential to attract new industrial development,” he said.

“We want to develop a market-ready industrial land bank and Park Ridge is a crucial component of the strategy.”

Mr Hansen also noted some developer uncertainty brought on by a lack of detail around the timing and delivery of the proposed Park Ridge Connector by the State Government.