Tipalea proposes A$100m Kin Kora homemaker centre in Gladstone

Why it matters

The proposal is for large-format retail on a golf club site, and Golf Industry Central reports that Tipalea is already in preliminary leasing talks with national brands and local operators. It does not name any of them.

Tipalea Partners chief executive Scott Spanton said: “Gladstone is growing, but the community still has limited choice across a number of major retail categories,” according to the report.

The report adds that the centre is intended to work for Gladstone and that the community will be involved early. It does not say how many tenancies are planned.

Golf Industry Central frames the plan as a response to a gap in local retail options across Gladstone and the wider Central Queensland region. Yaralla Sports Club and Tipalea are described as having unveiled the plans together, and the report does not describe any sale or lease terms for the land.

The numbers

Golf Industry Central puts the cost of the centre at A$100m. It reports about 25,000 sqm of retail space described as large-format, together with more than 700 on-grade parking spaces.

On jobs, the report cites about 1,200 temporary construction jobs and about 400 ongoing operational positions.

What’s next

The sequence the report describes is short: leasing talks now, a planning application in December 2026, community sessions around the retail mix and branding, and an opening in 2030 if approvals are granted.

According to the report, a planning application is expected to be lodged with Gladstone Regional Council in December 2026. The centre is a proposal.

Tipalea plans community question-and-answer sessions and will seek feedback on the retail mix, the centre’s logo and its name. The report says that, subject to planning and regulatory approvals, the centre is slated to open in 2030.

We did not locate a council record for the project, so the details above are attributed to Golf Industry Central. For another regional Queensland project, see Metacap’s Riverbend over-50s estates, which logged A$39m in sales.