Mermaid Beach in crosshairs

THE DEVELOPERS AT THE MOMENT ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WEIGHT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL COMING TO THE GOLD COAST AND THE SIGNIFICANT SHORTFALL IN RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION CBRE GOLD COAST MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MARK WITHERIFF

DEVELOPERS are circling the exclusive suburb of Mermaid Beach in a bid to scoop up sites in one of the Gold Coast’s final frontiers for large beachside tower projects.

A raft of new towers have been proposed for the area in the past year, with its first high-rise – Sunland Group’s 272 Hedges Ave – recently completed.

But with big-name developers including Harry Triguboff and Tim Gurner snapping up remaining sites in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, others are now eyeing off the streets around Peerless Ave, the southernmost street within the unlimited height restriction zone.

And there’s more to come. CBRE Gold Coast managing director of Mark Witheriff said the city’s rapidly growing population and a lack of available sites meant developers were looking at sites around Mermaid Beach and Mermaid Waters.

“The developers at the moment are paying attention to the weight of people who are still coming to the Gold Coast and the significant shortfall in residential accommodation,” he said.

“The only way this city can make any impact on this shortfall is to get developments of (larger) scale.

“Not everyone can afford to live on the beach side of the (Gold Coast) Highway, so these developments are all about amenity in terms of cost and that is what will make it work because (residents) will be able to catch the tram to their office or restaurants.”

Among the largest in the new generation of towers proposed is Peerless, a $255m, 36-storey luxury skyhome high-rise which will be built over the city’s most expensive mansions on Hedges Ave by Sunland founder Soheil Abedian. Mr Abedian, the man who built Q1 and the Palazzo Versace, will partner on the project with his son, architect Tom Jamieson.

The city’s accommodation squeeze has worsened in the past two years on the back of a Covidinspired migration to the sunshine state.

An apartment essentials report by property consulting firm Urbis, earlier this year warned there was just 2.3 months of supply remains if new projects were not launched.

The Coast’s population is now expected to top 1 million people by 2041. However not everyone is welcoming the changes.

Long-serving Mermaid Beach Community Association president Alf Vockler said many of the area’s residents were unhappy with the changes to their suburb and concerned for the future.

“I just want to know what any changes to the City Plan will mean for us and if we are going to see another street taken for highrises which wills ti right across the road from people’s houses,” he said.

“We are also seeing towers being snuck in as people propose four-storey buildings which then turn into unit buildings.”