CITY HUNGRY FOR PROJECT

SOHEIL Abedian’s confirmation that he will join ASF and use a ferry to ship workers and visitors to his $600 million development on The Spit shows he is as keen as ever to deliver the iconic project.

His twin tower Mariner proposal has been idle for nearly a year after the Gold Coast City Council elected to defer any decision on its future for 12 months. Sunland subsequently parked the plan.

The move coincided with a media leak that ASF was planning multiple towers and a bridge across the Broadwater for its $3 billion resort development next to Sea World.

The council wanted to pursue a masterplan for the area and talked informally to the State Government.

ASF subsequently released its plan for the 5ha block of Crown land, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he wanted the northern Spit to be the city’s Central Park and the State Government launched community consultation on how to protect that land.

ASF held public consultation on its bid and hopes to submit the results to the state government, which is expected to make a decision on the proposal before Christmas.

In the meantime, Sunland’s 12-month wait is about to end. With it rests 1600 jobs over three years of construction and a project that will mirror other Mr Abedian masterpieces such as Q1 and Palazzo Versace.

As a state election looms, the silence from Labor on what to do at The Spit is deafening.

The Commonwealth Games will soon come and go and the city needs landmark projects to prevent a 2018 hangover.

The Gold Coast has momentum. Construction and real estate is on a roll.

The last thing it needs is for the state government to put a spoke in the wheel.