Southern push for Chevron
A FAMILY-owned Melbourne developer making a Gold Coast debut appears likely to win the long-running race to deliver the first high-rise on Chevron Island.
Benson Property Group has galloped into town and secured a premier site facing the Surfers Paradise skyline and the ocean on the water-locked island’s northeastern side.
The Benson holding, from 36 to 44 Stanhill Drive, comes with approval in place for a 40level tower with 210 apartments and two retail areas.
Benson has a funds management arm and is touting the tower on its website and intends launching the $230 million project before year’s end.
The group paid for part of its five-property Chevron site, which it secured after options held by a company which secured approval for the tower lapsed.
Benson, set up in 1994 by Elias Jreissati, has developed projects of more than $2 billion in the Melbourne market.
Elias, apparently a longtime a fan of the Gold Coast and a so called “swinger” in deciding to develop in the city, has seen Queensland law changes that allow deposits of up to 20 per cent to be taken for off-the-plan sales.
Benson regards that as a “de-risking” factor.
Another factor influencing Benson is believed to have been the state’s lower stampduty rates on offshore investors – Queensland has a 3 per cent surcharge, Victoria 7 per cent and NSW 8 per cent.
The approval for the Benson site, which spans 2627 sq m near the bridge from Chevron into Surfers Paradise, was gained a year ago by a company which had optioned up multiple properties via Ray White Commercial agent Brad Merkur.
When those options lapsed, Benson enthusiastically came into the picture and, with help from Ray White Runaway Bay principal Ali Mian, secured the site and the approved plans.
Meanwhile, Benson might not have things all its own way on Chevron, with fellow Melbourne group Dennis Family Corporation in the wings.
The near 60-year-old group gained approval several weeks ago for a 22-floor tower, Radiance, in Mawarra St and is deciding whether to start marketing before Christmas.
The ardour Benson and Dennis are displaying for a “higher” Chevron mirrors ambitions expressed by other developers, starting in 1998 when John Potter mooted, but aborted, plans for a modest tower on the site of the Triangle Arcade at the eastern end of the retail area.
A series of medium-rise buildings have sprung up since then and in 2015 Brisbane’s Citimark group unveiled plans for a 21-level tower.
BENSON, SET UP IN 1994 BY ELIAS JREISSATI, HAS DEVELOPED PROJECTS WORTH MORE THAN $2 BILLION IN A COMPETITIVE MELBOURNE MARKET.