Aspen Group has struck a $14.1 million deal to acquire the remaining stages of the Wallaroo Shores master planned community in South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula – with plans to deliver 200 lifestyle land lease homes alongside build-to-rent, townhouses, and a commercial precinct.
The ASX-listed affordable housing provider confirmed on Friday it had entered a conditional contract for the 13.5-hectare site, located in the coastal town of Wallaroo, 160km southeast of Adelaide. A revised masterplan with Copper Coast Council envisions more than 300 sites, including the 200 land lease homes, as well as a residential BTR offering, land lots, and a retail and commercial hub. Aspen will seek formal planning approval once the deal settles.
Originally conceived by Monopoly Property Group in 2015 as a $220 million transformation of the former industrial site, Wallaroo Shores was pitched as a tourism and housing hub featuring 600-plus homes and apartments, offices, shops, a retirement village and medical precinct. While about 100 townhouses in stage one restarted construction last year, Monopoly had withdrawn from future stages and was seeking a buyer for the remainder of the land.
Aspen Group said Wallaroo and the broader Copper Coast region offered strong growth prospects, driven by retiree migration.
“The Copper Coast is one of South Australia’s fastest-growing regions with a high rate of retiree migration. It is estimated the population could grow to 30,000-plus people over the next 25 years, a 90% increase,” the company said.
“Wallaroo and Yorke Peninsula are easily accessed from the northern suburbs of Adelaide which is expected to be the main growth area of Adelaide in the future.”
The acquisition lifts Aspen’s pipeline to 16 projects nationwide, covering nearly 2,500 sites across land lease, residential build-to-rent, and land subdivisions.
