FRENCH CRIES & VANILLA SHAKE
The final stage of Emerald Lakes proved hugely controversial for Gold Coasters and its own residents.
THE exclusive enclave of Emerald Lakes rose from the semirural flood plains of Carrara to become one of the Gold Coast’s hottest addresses in less than 15 years.
The project was the brainchild of Japanese businessman Toshiaki Ogasawara, founder of Gold Coast developer Nifsan, who came to the city in 1988 to play golf on a business trip and fell in love.
It was a love that stayed with Mr Ogasawara until his death in 2012.
Proposed in the mid-1990s, construction of Emerald Lakes finally began in 2001 and lasted more than a decade.
While much of the work was completed within a handful of years, the centrepiece of the $1bn precinct – a giant $200m French Quarter – started to take shape in the mid-2000s and continued well into the late 2010s.
The project was unveiled in 2006 and was greeted with enormous excitement.
Initially priced at just $60m, it was pitched to the Gold Coast City Council as an “authentic European village”.
“The village will feature narrow cobblestone streets, alleys, public piazzas and monuments inspired by the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps,” the initial pitch read.
“In its determination to achieve maximum authenticity, Nifsan sent its construction management team to Italy and France to inspect building methods.”
It was launched to the market in 2007, the same year construction began.
Nifsan unveiled a surprise addition in mid-2008 – a gigantic replica of Michelangelo’s David. The company had bought it from developer Juniper Group, which had stood it in the heart of Surfers Paradise’s Raptis Plaza before its 2007 demolition to make way for the Soul supertower.
Nifsan general manager David White said once he read about the 7m-tall statue – coincidently made out of Carrara marble from the same quarry the original David was created from – he contacted Juniper.
“We heard they were going to sell it overseas, but we thought this would be perfect in our development,’’ he told the Bulletin at the time.
“Emerald Lakes will follow a European theme and we have plans for a proposed central piazza, the town centre, before council. This is where we envisage David would go.
“The beauty about having it there is that it will be visible to drivers from Nerang Broadbeach Road. He’s staying on the Gold Coast in a very prominent spot. While we can’t disclose how much we paid for it, it was a substantial investment to keep it on the Gold Coast.”
Mr Ogasawara said the statue demonstrated “the ongoing commitment of Nifsan to the development of Emerald Lakes”.
By 2009, construction had reached the halfway mark and had defied post-global financial crisis expectations by selling out rapidly. The European precinct was completed in 2011, when the first residents moved in.
Harbour Village, the final stage of the waterfront precinct, was approved by the Gold Coast City Council in 2014 and construction began soon after.
But some Emerald Lakes residents were unimpressed and slammed the council for allowing a “suburban slum”.
Frank and Cathy Boggs said the project damaged the area’s amenity and called on Nifsan to recolour the white buildings.
“Our concern is we do not believe it complies with regulations at all,” Mr Boggs told the Bulletin in 2016. “It has no colour and is not in line with the vision for this area.
“Nifsan envisaged Emerald Lakes as being a unique place but this changes things. When we came here the park spaces were open and you could walk your dog and see the lakes but now we are worried this will create a suburban slum.”
Area councillor Bob La Castra dismissed the residents’ concerns and defended the decision to approve the project.
He said it was unrealistic to judge the development until it was completed.
“The European quarter of Emerald Lakes was never intended to be the sole piece of the project and the rest of the development there was never meant to look like it. The colourful buildings were always supposed to be unique,” he said.
“These new buildings will not compete with it and they are unfinished, so to suggest they will have no colour is wrong – they haven’t been painted yet.
“While much of it will be white, there will certainly be some subtle colours, but nothing like the European village.”
A petition demanding the council step in was put to city leaders and rejected.
The development, as envisaged, was completed without further controversy.
Nifsan’s Australian holdings were unwound and sold off in the late 2010s, with Pointcorp buying Emerald Lakes.