TRULY VISIONARY LEADERSHIP

SURVEYING the vast kilometres from the 10th floor of Springfield Tower where a city the size of Darwin will take shape over the next 30 years, Maha Sinnathamby is typically philosophical.

The chairman of Springfield Land Corporation is the inspiration behind the 3000ha Greater Springfield, where large scale health, education and business precincts will form the backbone of a satellite city swelling in population from 21,000 today to more than 105,000 residents by 2030.

“People will look back at this city in 30 years time and wonder how it got here. It is the only non-organically built city in Australia, except for maybe Canberra,” says Sinnathamby.

The Malaysian businessman unearthed the concept for Greater Springfield in the early 1990’s. In 1993, $6.3 million was being pumped into the project, a figure that has now skyrocketed to more than $600 million per year.

“There is a spirit and heart in this - it’s not about making a quick buck, there’s human values and health and education infrastructure that will position this city as one of the most dynamic in Australia,” says Sinnathamby.

Located on Sinnathamby Drive is the $60 million Springfield Tower, where Springfield Land Corporation is the anchor tenant above businesses including Cardno, Suncorp, GHD Engineering and NEC.

To the left is the brand new 35,000sq m Masters Home Improvement store, set to give Bunnings and major white goods retailers a run for their money.

“Springfield’s CBD has twice the land area of Brisbane’s, so it makes sense for businesses to move. It’s also cheaper, has unmatched IT infrastructure and most importantly employees don’t have to spend hours commuting to and from work,” says Sinnathamby.

“Brisbane’s CBD is choking on its own success, the city is growing so fast that infrastructure can’t keep up.”

Springfield Land Corporation has established partnerships with some of Australia’s leading corporations, including Mirvac, Delfin Lend Lease, Telstra and NEC, to progress the development of the Greater Springfield project.

It encompasses six suburbs of Springfield, Springfield Central, Springfield Lakes, Brookwater, Augustine Heights and Spring Mountain. The product caters for first home buyer residences through to golf-frontage executive homes on Queensland’s No.1 golf course, Brookwater.

“It’s an unstoppable force,” says Sinnathamby.

“I guarantee by 2030, Greater Springfield will have a CBD twice the land size of Brisbane’s and will boast some of Australia’s biggest companies.”