ONWARDS AND UPWARDS FOR SOUTHPORT COMPLEX
Scarborough St office building to go up two storeys plus a seven-floor extension in major re-development of CBD landmark
JOE Gorski, who several decades ago started a Gold Coast office equipment business that today operates in major capitals, has pressed the enlarge button on an office building in the Southport CBD.
Mr Gorksi is to add two storeys and a seven-floor extension to the five-level Kaybank Plaza at 33 Scarborough St.
An exterior facelift will change the look of the near 30-year-old property which will be renamed CBD 33.
The building, which was near vacant, was bought for $5.8 million in 2016 via Gorski company Paradise Marine Management.
Hamilton Hayes Henderson Architects was enlisted to design an enlarged Kaybank Plaza.
Partner Alan Hayes said Mr Gorski perceived the plaza as a bargain when he bought it and could see its potential given that it was in the Southport Priority Development Area. He said Mr Gorksi was more than doubling his investment by enlarging and improving the building so that it would present as a new CBD office building.
“The existing offices will be gutted and upgraded to today’s standards,” he said. “There will be new windows, airconditioning, and electrics, along with high-speed broadband.
“In other words, the property will have everything you would expect in a new high-quality office building.”
Kaybank Plaza, built by the late Alex Katranski, is on a 1591sq m site, has a gross floor area of 3188sq m, and has two basements off Seabank Lane with parking for 72 cars.
Mr Hayes said the seven-level extension would go on the rear of the building and, along with the new floors on the existing building, lift the gross floor area by 2571sq m.
“The floorplates will be 760sq m and there are no others of that size available in Southport.”
The ‘new’ CBD 33 will include a ground-floor extension, fronting Scarborough St, that will accommodate a cafe.
Mr Hayes said two of the three current tenants had indicated they wished to remain once the CBD 33 work was completed.
He said the construction job was out to tender and builders might be on-site before Christmas.