OAK FACING THE AXE Eyesore weeks away from demolition to make way for new highrise
A HAVEN for vagrants and drug users, one of the Gold Coast’s biggest eyesores may be facing demolition within weeks.
Sleeping bags, prescription medication packets and shattered glass litter the ground at the old Oak resort site at Surfers Paradise which still remains freely accessible to the public and has been vacant for five years.
A Bulletin investigation yesterday found homeless people still living among the filth at 18 Remembrance Drive which will be demolished, but only when the Gold Coast City Council approves the project.
Highrise developer Barry Morris is poised to build a 33-level tower on the land and the move cannot come soon enough for nearby residents.
Amalgamated and Morris property manager Brodie Lister said the demolition of the 1831sq m riverfront site would start as soon as the GCCC approved the project.
“We expect approval to be given in a few weeks," he said. “We are ready to proceed the moment we are given notice and construction will start when we reach 50 per cent pre-sale of the apartments.
“The building will be spectacular and the current plans even include a resort-style pool.
“We are really excited started.”
Mr Morris purchased the trouble-prone site for $3.96 million in
to
get October with the intention of revitalising the area and adding a seventh highrise to his Gold Coast portfolio.
The previous owners, De Cheng Investments, had been issued several Show Cause Notices by the council.
The Bulletin obtained council documents through a Right to Information request which showed Mayor Tom Tate wrote to the group last year threatening to implement a citywide levy to pay for the city’s entire $2 million graffiti removal program if the site was not maintained.
Cr Tate said the “special new levy” could force “proprietors and/ or liquidators” to pay for the city’s $2 million graffiti removal program. “I share the views of local residents that the state of this site remains unacceptable and that short term fixes are not working,” he said in the letter.
“I believe that the time has come and offer you the assistance of my office to see this particular site developed.
“Should you fail to take action, council may explore other ways at fixing this eyesore.
“One such proposal would see heavily graffitied, derelict and abandoned buildings subject to a special new levy.”
The old Oak site demolition will rejuvenate the area but several “bombsites”, abandoned buildings and vacant lots of land still serve as scars on the city’s image.
A boarded-up piece of prime real estate at 47 Enderly Drive, Surfers Paradise, which last sold for $6.38 million in 2011, still sits vacant and the abandoned Oriental Garden restaurant at 15 Rosewood Ave in Broadbeach is still on the market.
The former Bamboo Hotel at 3 Beach Rd, Surfers Paradise has been abandoned and left derelict.
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