Brisbane developer Boldstone has purchased a 69ha parcel in Cotswold Hills in Toowoomba for $38m, with the goal of turning it into more than 750 homes.
A $400 million masterplanned community set to inject more than 750 homes into Toowoomba’s choked housing market has taken its next major step.
Brisbane developer Boldstone is finalising the master plans for development approval after buying a 69-hectare site from transport titan Neil Mansell for $38 million.
The as-yet-unnamed project is part of the firm’s major regional expansion and will be its biggest project to date. Boldstone has a pipeline of five active developments in the Toowoomba area, including Highfields, Middle Ridge and Oakey.
Boldstone’s Bianca Durack says the development firm has advanced two new subdivisions in the Toowoomba region.
The final master plan is being assessed to deliver more than 750 dwellings, with Boldstone confirming the project will prioritise affordability – with entry-level 500 square-metre lots starting at $400,000.
The median price of a standard four-bedroom home in Cotswold Hills is approximately $855,000, according to realestate.com.au, with homes selling in less than 10 days.
Boldstone’s previous residential projects in the region drew strong buyer interest – its premium boutique estate, The Darling in Middle Ridge, attracted 800 inquiries for just 53 allotments.
The Cotswold Hills site marks a deliberate shift in strategy. While prior developments targeted premium-lifestyle acreage and established professionals, this project is explicitly aimed at young, entry-level families being squeezed out of the market.
Rental vacancy rates in Toowoomba sit at 0.7 per cent – well below the 1 per cent threshold considered critically tight – and the Cotswold Hills median has surged 14.7 per cent over the past year.
Renders of potential housing in The Darling subdivision in Middle Ridge by Boldstone which saw hundreds of expressions of interest for just over 50 lots.
Boldstone founder Bianca Durack said the development was targeting those feeling that pressure most acutely.
“Demand across the Toowoomba LGA region has well and truly outpaced supply, and that gap is being felt most by the families who can least absorb it,” Ms Durack said.
Boldstone is not alone in moving on Toowoomba’s growth corridors. Major projects in the works include Weymouth’s Wirraglen, Hallmark’s The Avenues of Highfields, Ingenia’s Darlingview, and Queensland rich lister Clive Berghofer’s Group’s suburban subdivisions.
The state government is also backing growth in the region, with a $20.1 million grant for the Central Highfields Activation project, targeting 2,560 new homes.
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