Doohan revs up a profit

FORMER motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan has raced away with a large profit after selling a beachfront block in Palm Beach for $12.1 million to aged-care provider Regis Healthcare.

Mr Doohan once had plans to build a tavern on the 2478sq m property at 1295 Gold Coast Highway, which he purchased for $3.45 million in 2001 and holds through Moto GP Pty Ltd. It is understood listed company Regis has also bought the 826sq m property next-door at 1299 Gold Coast Highway for close to $3.6 million.

The purchases give Regis 40m of beach frontage and a combined site area of 3304sq m sandwiched between the 19th Avenue on the Beach resort and the Pacific Surf Life Saving Club.

Regis, which reported a profit of $30.9 million for the six months to December, is worth almost $1.4 billion, and has 54 aged-care facilities throughout Australia.

CBRE’s Lachlan Harris, who marketed the sites with colleagues Mason Kidman and Jonathan O’Brien, said the sale came at a time of heightened development activity in Palm Beach.

“Palm Beach is standing out as a hotspot and, with the new town plan that was implemented last year, is at the forefront of high-density development on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“The whole area is going well because there are a lot of owner-occupiers moving in from the central Gold Coast.”

The blocks are across from where Sunland is building the luxury Magnoli Residences community after buying the Palm Beach Mobile and Tourist Park for $18.4 million.

Mr Harris said the property was zoned for a 29m tower and one bedroom per 33sq m of the site. “It is absolute beachfront and there is nothing else like it on the Gold Coast,” he said.

The contract for 1295 Gold Coast Highway settled last month while the deal for 1299 Gold Coast Highway is yet to go unconditional.

Mr Doohan’s plans for a tavern attracted controversy when first floated in 2007.

It was feared the project might threaten safety of children who used the surf club.