Australians visit a convenience retail store around four times a month, more often than they eat at a restaurant, go to the gym or see their GP, according to CBRE Research’s March 2026 Convenience Retail Report. Few places show that habit at work as clearly as the corner of Walker and Ferry streets in Maryborough, where a Caltex-branded service station occupies about 1,618 square metres with roughly 80 metres of dual street frontage.

Ferry Street is the gateway road linking Maryborough to the Bruce Highway, and GapMaps data puts the traffic passing the site at more than 130,000 vehicles a week. Around it, within about a kilometre, sit McDonald’s, Bunnings, ALDI, Coles, Woolworths, KFC, Guzman y Gomez and Chemist Warehouse. Maryborough State High School, with more than 1,200 enrolments, is about 400 metres away.

“What stands out at Walker and Ferry streets is how many everyday trips converge on one site,’ said CBRE Senior Director Jamie Perlinger. “You have a high school 400 metres away, the major national retailers within a kilometre and a gateway road to the Bruce Highway. This is one of only two service stations along five kilometres of Ferry Street, and a position like that is difficult to replicate.’

The city around the corner is growing. Fraser Coast Regional Council’s July 2026 economic snapshot put the region’s Gross Regional Product at an estimated $7.17 billion for the 12 months to March 2026, almost $500 million more than the year before. The resident population rose by more than 1,350 to an estimated 124,280, and more than $1 billion of building approvals were issued. The council’s forecast.id modelling, based on ABS population estimates, projects the region growing from 120,658 residents in 2026 to 144,048 in 2041. Maryborough, about 25 kilometres south of Hervey Bay, anchors the manufacturing, energy and resources economy behind those numbers.

The tenant has its own momentum. Viva Energy took on the Maryborough lease through a network exchange with Chevron, under which it received 13 Caltex sites, this one included. The site keeps its Caltex branding while the shop moves to Viva’s Store 24 format. Viva operates more than 1,500 fuel and convenience sites nationally, and its results announcement of 25 August 2026 reported first-half group EBITDA (RC) of $774.4 million, up from $304.9 million a year earlier.

“Viva Energy has been building its convenience network at pace, and this site now sits with one of the country’s largest operators,’ Perlinger said. “With the tenant responsible for outgoings, maintenance and the fuel infrastructure, the income is about as hands-off as commercial property gets.’

The lease is an 18-year net lease expiring in August 2035, with four further ten-year options. Rent is currently $208,764 a year plus GST and rises by a fixed 3 per cent annually, reaching $264,456 by 2034. The tenant carries all outgoings, including multiple holding land tax, and under the lease is responsible for maintenance, replacement of fuel tanks and equipment, and site remediation. The five fibreglass tanks on site have been relined.

The pricing context is also favourable. CBRE’s research shows convenience retail transactions reached $531 million in 2025, with cap rates compressing by 15 basis points. Across 2024 and 2025, regional Queensland convenience retail sales were recorded at a 7.28 per cent cap rate, against 6.25 per cent for metropolitan Queensland. The yield anticipated for Caltex Maryborough is 7.25 per cent.

“Regional Queensland has traded at a premium yield to the metropolitan market, and an anticipated 7.25 per cent with fixed 3 per cent annual increases is the kind of starting point private investors look for in a long-dated lease,’ Perlinger said. “Fuel demand also has real staying power. CBRE’s research puts the average vehicle registration life at 11.2 years, and the impact of electric vehicles on fuel demand remains limited against a national fleet of more than 22 million.’

Few investment categories pair an everyday habit with a national tenant and a lease that largely runs itself. Caltex Maryborough, at 72-74 Walker Street, is being offered for sale through CBRE’s Portfolio Auction 188.