North Harbour is set to become a world-leading marine industry hub, fast-tracking the tourism sector and providing an economic bonanza to Moreton Bay.

Attracting a significant slice of Australia’s $68 billion maritime industry to the region, the proposed marina will deliver a new wave of employment opportunities across all facets of the boating and tourism industries. This is in addition to around 70 staff required for dry boat stacking and hardstand operations.

Assisting Moreton Bay’s vital post-COVID 19 recovery, a technology TAFE supporting local employers by producing skilled employees such as apprentice marine technicians could become a world-class training and skills development hub in a supportive environment at North Harbour. Currently there is limited resources for marine apprentices between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. An educated and skilled workforce will be essential to the industry’s growth and development in the region.

As the heart of North Harbour, the marina will consist of 400 berths, around 500 dry storage docks, 562 private pontoons and fuel facilities. Fantastic marine tourism opportunities will be created for recreational water-based businesses including bareboat yacht hire and fishing and dive charters.

The marina will seamlessly connect to North Harbour Business Park, which is expected to feature additional marine-related businesses, delivering a marine industry cluster to the north of Brisbane.

The Australian marine industry is a key driver in supporting the nation’s economy and is one of the fastest growing sectors.

Recreational and commercial fishing, transport and tourism are some of the marine-based activities that contribute the most to our total economic output.

With the North Harbour Marina Precinct set to declared Queensland’s next Priority Development Area, the project will inject a massive $707 million a year into the Moreton Bay region.

The marina alone will deliver a substantial marina village with retail, tourism and entertainment uses. The precinct will also provide 600 new apartments and 600 detached homes as part of the marina village, 800 dwellings in a canal estate.

The masterplanned community also includes 319 hectares of recreational and regional open space and is expected to be home to around 12,000 residents along Caboolture River.

To find out more, register your details via the contact form.

Located close to some of southeast Queensland’s most spectacular underwater sites, the proposed North Harbour marina and recreational precinct will offer fantastic opportunities for amateur scuba enthusiasts right through to professional dive operators.

With the $2.74 billion precinct incorporating a 400-berth marina as well as a substantial village, it lends itself to a multitude of tourism opportunities.

Here’s a selection of what’s on North Harbour’s doorstep for scuba enthusiasts:

The Wrecks: Offering great diving from two to 10 metres deep, The Wrecks comprises a cluster of sunken vessels on the western side of Moreton Island – only a short trip from North Harbour.

The ships were scuttled by the State Government from 1963 to provide a safe anchorage spot for recreational boat owners.

Now home to an amazing array of marine life, including over 100 species of fish such as wobbegongs, yellowtail, trevally and kingfish, The Wrecks are just waiting to be explored.

The Aarhus: The wreck of the Aarhus not only provides some sensational scenery, it has an intriguing history to match.

The three-mast ship sank in 1894 after setting sail from New York with a cargo of kerosene, glassware, alarm clocks and general merchandise.

The Aarhus carried a cargo of kerosene, glassware, wire bails and alarm clocks, with some of those timber artifacts under the sand still preserved by the kerosene they were drenched in.

The vessel struck a rock and the crew of 15 as well as the captain’s wife made for Moreton Island in lifeboats, where they landed safely.

Partially buried in the sand, the Aarhus accommodates a variety of species including pufferfish, sweetlips, sponges, wobbegongs, stingrays, lionfish, gropers and schools of cardinal fish.

Only accessible with a permit, this is a site for advanced divers.

The Cementco: A popular dive site, the wreck was a  67-metre hopper barge that worked in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay for many years transporting fossilised coral to be used in cement production.

Located upside down in 25 metres of water off Cape Moreton, its rusting hull provides shelter for reef fish as well as attracting trevally, batfish, mackerel and barracuda.

Cherub’s Cave: Often described as one of the Brisbane region’s best dive sites, Cherubs Cave is located on the exposed east side of Moreton Island.

A cave surrounded by rocky gullies, this site is for experienced divers. In winter, divers converge on Cherub’s Cave to see the  grey nurse sharks. They also get to enjoy watching large schools of fish and abundant marine life including turtles.

China Wall: Popular in winter when the conditions are calmer, China Wall is also located on the eastern side of Moreton Island.

At this time of the year, divers can also be lucky enough to be serenaded by humpback whales as they cruise past on their annual migration.

The site features caves, gutters, walls and a tall vertical outcrop.

The area is covered with a thick layer of kelp. Although it provides protection for crayfish,  lobsters and the like, it can also make navigation for divers challenging.

To find out more about our plans for North Harbour, register your details via the contact form.

Location, location, location.

It’s an old adage but as relevant as ever. From marine-based tourism to retail and everything in between, North Harbour’s enormous opportunities have been highlighted at a gathering of top local business leaders.

North Harbour Project Director Bryan Finney underscored the importance of the project to the region in an address to local business operators attending a recent Moreton Bay Regional Council Investment Forum at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Petrie campus.

“The North Harbour Marina Precinct will deliver huge benefits for Moreton Bay, including a marine industry boom that will attract a significant portion of the country’s $68 billion annual maritime industry, in addition to being a key tourism and recreational drawcard,” Mr Finney said.

The State Government has pledged its support to make North Harbour a Priority Development Area (PDA) to fast track its growth, and Moreton Bay Regional Council has already identified it as a major part of its economic strategy for the next 20 years.

“We are leading the way towards an approval that will enable North Harbour to reach its full potential,” Mr Finney said.

Perfectly positioned 

With unparalleled potential as the only likely new marina location between Brisbane and Noosa, North Harbour benefits from superb access to the bay as well as the burgeoning northern growth corridor of the Moreton Bay region.

North Harbour is extremely well connected to Moreton Bay’s fast-growing population and business areas from Caboolture to Burpengary and Narangba, as well as other future growth areas including Caloundra South and Beerwah East.

This is supported by its exceptional access to the Bruce Highway. The Brisbane Airport is only 45 minutes away and it’s just 10 minutes from rail facilities.

So close to the bay

As far as its location for a state-of-the-art marine hub, the North Harbour marina will be only 5 kilometres along the Caboolture River to Moreton Bay, nearby islands, reefs and open water sailing.

This presents an excellent opportunity for marine based tourism as well, such as dive charters, fishing charters, bareboat or crewed yacht hire.

By comparison, much of the marine infrastructure on the Gold Coast is approximately 15 kilometres along the Coomera River and the Broadwater to reach the Gold Coast Seaway.

The hub itself will create skilled marine industry jobs and training opportunities that currently do not exist in Moreton Bay.

12 kilometres of river frontage 

The potential for major tourism and events also abounds. Showcasing 319 hectares of open space alongside the marina precinct as well as an incredible 12 kilometres frontage along the southern bank of the Caboolture River, the project will unlock land that has been in private ownership for 160 years.

To put it into perspective, the same distance along the Brisbane River would extend from the University of Queensland at St Lucia, past Suncorp Stadium, South Bank and the CBD, under the Story Bridge, and around to New Farm Park.

By the numbers

A future economic powerhouse, the graphic above illustrates North Harbour ’s contribution to jobs as part of Moreton Bay Regional Council’s plans for a Bigger, Bolder Brighter future over the next 20 years. This is backed up by studies competed by independent economic consultants Urbis.

It will also feature:   

• A 400-berth marina, as well as a shipyard/marine industry opportunity, marina village and restaurant precinct
• 2000 dwellings incorporating a variety of accommodation from apartments to townhouses and terrace homes, traditional and waterfront home sites
• A business park that will include 900 metres of highway frontage with individual lots of more than 10 hectares available
• Upon completion, the facility will provide approximately 350,000 square metres of gross floor area
• 2,500 people already call North Harbour home, ultimately rising to 12,500

To find out more about what’s planned for North Harbour, register your details via the contact form.

With the countdown on, boating enthusiasts are getting ready to celebrate next month’s return of the iconic Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race, right on the doorstep of North Harbour.

Considered to be one of Australia’s premier yacht races, entrants are attracted from across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania as well as abroad.

There are plenty of great vantage points nearby to catch a glimpse of the yachts as the make their way from Shorncliffe, past Redcliffe and across the bay to a mark off Tangalooma, Moreton Island, and towards the open water.

Boaties are spoilt for choice when it comes to getting close to the action, with around 300 private and commercial craft expected to gather around the start line to farewell the competitors.

Steeped in tradition, the first race was held during Easter 1949 with just seven vessels, two of which carried radios with Brisbane’s Homing Pigeon Club supplying birds to the others for position reporting.

Accessing the bay, to soak up the atmosphere of events such as the Brisbane to Gladstone, will  become even easier under our plans to create a new world-class waterfront destination at North Harbour.

As the only significant new marina project between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coat, the North Harbour Marina Precinct will provide an exciting river-based connection to the Bay for everyone to enjoy.

Even for those without a boat, there are plenty of ways to enjoy a bumper, fun day out with the family at the nearby Redcliffe Festival of Sails, which attracts thousands of people each year to celebrate the Brisbane to Gladstone event.

There’s something for everyone, with this year featuring a visit from Easter Bunny, an Easter egg hunt, three stages of live entertainment, and hundreds of market stalls.

The team behind North Harbour Marina has extensive experience in creating world-class facilities, such as Mackay Marina in North Queensland.

As developers of the Mackay and Raby Bay marinas, the team behind the proposed North Harbour marina village has impeccable credentials and extensive experience in creating world-class facilities.

The Port Binnli Group, which is the majority owner of North Harbour Holdings, has nearly 30 years at the helm of marina development.

The company designs, builds, owns and operates marina facilities, waterfront residential and commercial precincts. As such, it delivers mixed-use precincts that bring socio-economic benefits to the local community.

Port Binnli is now bringing that wealth of knowledge and know-how to North Harbour.

The “jewel in Mackay’s crown’’

The 479-berth Mackay Marina is often referred to as the berth “jewel in Mackay’s crown”.

It’s with good reason, having twice captured the Marine Industry Association’s Marina of the Year Award.

The brainchild of the Port Binnli Group, Mackay Marina is located midway between Brisbane and Cairns and occupies almost 25 hectares.

A key tourist drawcard for Mackay, the marina was established in the early 2000s and features a waterfront commercial village and an array of ancillary facilities including a fuel dock and one of the state’s premier shipyards.

The popular precinct also includes an eight-level hotel built in 2005 standing on a 6,407sqm prime waterfront site offering views over the Coral Sea.

Raby Bay beginnings

Raby Bay Marina in Cleveland

The Port Binnli Group was formed in November 1993, to develop the marina at Raby Bay – a modern, boutique-style marina with 75 floating berths nestled in the protected waters of Cleveland, to the south of Brisbane.

Surrounded by a boardwalk, the marina occupies a prime position in the heart of an entertainment and dining precinct as well as being in close proximity to supermarkets, shops and other services.

North Harbour Marina, which has secured a State Government commitment to declare the project a Priority Development Area (PDA), represents a long held vision by the Port Binnli Group to create a world-class integrated development delivering decades of prosperity to the Moreton Bay region.

To find out more, register your details via our contact form.