QUEENSLAND – MA Financial has moved to strengthen its national marina platform with the acquisition of the Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard, one of Australia’s most substantial marine‑industrial facilities.
The asset features a major concentration of marine trades, large‑format operational infrastructure and the capacity to support a significant volume of vessel maintenance and refit activity. Located within the Coomera marine precinct, the property sits inside one of Australia’s most established marine industry clusters.
Brad Couper, MA Financial’s Head of Asset Management, said the acquisition aligns with the firm’s strategy of targeting high‑quality assets that benefit from long‑term structural tailwinds in the marine sector.
“Certainly for us, it expands our capability and diversifies our alternative asset management and hospitality funds platform,”
He added that opportunities of this scale were increasingly limited:
“Assets like this are very rare in terms of how often they trade. The Gold Coast City Marina is firmly in the sweet spot of our alternative investment strategy and supports our entrance into the international superyacht market.”
The new acquisition will bring further depth to MA Financial’s marina network, which already includes a portfolio of established facilities and a growing national footprint. Mr Couper noted the strong investor appetite for the sector and the strategic role that scale will play in delivering returns over the long term.
“Marinas represent an important component of our broader real estate strategy, and we have been pleased with the performance of the assets acquired to date” he said.
Coomera’s position midway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, supported by enhanced connectivity through recent infrastructure upgrades, has accelerated demand from operators, trades and marine‑industry users.
The West Wing industrial facility located adjacent to the marina and forming part of the wider holding contributes additional leased accommodation and further anchors the estate within the region’s marine‑services ecosystem.
Mr Couper said the platform continues to exceed expectations.
“The marina fund is delivering an attractive blend of income and growth, ahead of original forecasts when the fund was launched,” he said. “We’re confident this latest addition will support that trajectory.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s Morgan Ruig & Jonathan O’Brien negotiated the sale and noted that competitive tension for specialised industrial landholdings has intensified sharply, driven by scarcity, zoning constraints and growing institutional appetite for operationally rich assets.
“Capital targeting specialised industrial and marine infrastructure has deepened dramatically. Demand is consistently outweighing supply, and large‑scale waterfront industrial assets like this almost never hit the market.
“With significant land, diversified income and tightly held zoning, the transaction underscores the shift toward alternative assets that offer both operational revenue and strong underlying land value.
“Opportunities of this scale, particularly in waterfront industrial precincts, are expected to remain exceptionally limited”.
