Gold Coast North Shore booms

Development in this northern precinct has taken off, fuelled by interstate buyers seeking a sea-change and those looking to snap up some of the last waterfront blocks in the area

THE northern Gold Coast is becoming a hive of development activity as buyers rush to secure some of the last remaining waterfront blocks and and off-the-plan apartments and townhomes in the precinct.

The North Shore, encompassing Hope Island and Helensvale and its surrounds, has captured the interest of local owneroccupiers and interstate buyers, with the demand driven by COVID-19.

At the forefront of the boom has been development company Keylin, which has delivered more than $100 million worth of residential projects in Hope Island over the past three years. Its latest project is the $650m Serenity 4212 project, a joint venture undertaken with partner Kinstone.

Keylin bought the site last year for $50m and it has already generated more than $70m after 70 per cent of the first stage, Serenity Waters, which offers 110 waterfront blocks, has sold. The developer has also launched Serenity Green, a collection of 60 four-bedroom townhomes of which over a third have sold.

Tony Ashwin, director of Ashwin Property, which is marketing the project, said the area represented a benchmark for quality at a price that was typically lower than other waterfront land in the country.

Sally O’Neill, sales agent at Harcourts Paradise Point, said that a shortage of stock and an abundance of buyers in the northern Gold Coast was driving the high demand.

“The North Shore offers buyers everything they need all within 5km. The region really is the hidden gem of the Gold Coast.”

Development company Aniko Group is preparing to launch the second stage of its $140m No. 1 Grant Avenue project in Hope Island after the sell-out of Stage 1. No. 1 Grant Avenue will offer 210 two, three- and four-bedroom apartments on an 8390sqm waterfront site, with optional marina berths.

Aniko founder George Mastrocostas said the development had maintained high interest amid Covid with many properties selling sight unseen to interstate buyers at the height of the pandemic.

GH Properties, which is behind the Hope Island Resort, has also had increasing demand from buyers seeking a sea change. Its $35m, 46-lot land subdivision, The Gallery, appeals to a range of buyers from young families to expats and investors.

THE $7.5 million Bim’bimba Park in Gainsborough Greens has taken out two top gongs at the 2020 Urban Development Institute of Australia Queensland Awards for Excellence.

Bim’bimba, built by Mirvac in conjunction with City of Gold Coast, was top in the Parks and Recreation and Community Engagement Excellence categories at the awards, which are the most coveted for development in the state.

Stuart Penklis, head of residential at Mirvac, said they had always intended to create a park that would become an asset for the northern Gold Coast and a destination in its own right.

“We undertook significant engagement with our Gainsborough Greens residents and the broader community to really understand what they wanted in a new park – and we delivered,” he said.

At the heart of the five hectares of green space is a 14m-high play tower, inspired by the bulging form of the Australian bottle tree and which is surrounded by a nature-based playground with recycled timber play equipment and 110 totems. There is also a basketball half-court, skate ramps, outdoor table tennis, shaded barbecue and picnic areas, an outdoor amphitheatre and walking and cycling paths.

If you want to take advantage of what the park has to offer, Gainsborough Greens will launch new land in the Grand Reserve release early next year, after the first release of 25 lots sold out within a matter of minutes in July. A small number of built homes in the established development are still available, priced from $485,000.

Gainsborough Greens was not the only Pimpama community in the spotlight at the UDIA Queensland Awards, with neighbouring over-50s lifestyle community, Halcyon Green, also taking out two awards, — best Master Planned Development and best Seniors Living Development.