Fears reputation
GOLD Coast developers and business leaders fear for the city job market and investment reputation after the State Government terminated a $3 billion resort at The Spit.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s bombshell announcement yesterday that the Government would not pursue preferred integrated resort developer ASF’s fivetower plan left Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce president Martin Brady “surprised” and developer Soheil Abedian “disappointed”.
Gold Coast-based Federal Tourism, Trade and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo endorsed the decision to restrict The Spit to a three-storey height limit but slammed the “haphazard”, lengthy process and was preparing to go into damage control to repair the city’s reputation with international investors.
“I speak to investors around the world. They make it clear constantly shifting goalposts turn them away and they invest when they know they have more certainty,” he said.
“This on-again, off-again approach, constant prevaricating by the Palaszczuk Government is costing investment and costing job opportunities.
“It requires a lot of work to undo the bitter taste left in proponents’ mouths.”
Sunland owner Mr Abedian, whose company developed icon projects the Q1 and Palazzo Versace, said “like everybody I was disappointed after all these years”.
“I have sympathy for ASF,” he said. “They have spent so much time and energy. I’ve been through it, spent millions and it didn’t happen. We’re big boys and can move on. Is it easy? No.”
Mr Abedian, who has parked plans for a twin tower project at Mariner’s Cove, said the three-storey limit at The Spit made no sense and would not be viable for any company.
Gold Coast property development and market veteran Max Christmas agreed there would be “limited interest” in a three-storey project. “They do not understand commerce or how to make numbers work to do things,” he said.
Mr Christmas said The Spit was a bad look generally with 80 per cent of it waiting to go up in “a bushfire”.
“If they want to save face, do what has been done on the other side of the Broadwater at Parklands. That was all rubbish land once too,” Mr Christmas said. “They have been fluffing around – both sides, both governments – for 25 years. And it will still be sitting there for another five to 10 years.”
Gold Coast Tourism chief executive Martin Winter, a long-time supporter of the project, denied the loss of ASF’s resort would damage the city’s reputation for foreign investors and said more development would come along.
“This is not damaging, this is an opportunity which could have been picked up on but these are political decisions so we have to move on,” he said.
“We are a resilient place and there will be another big project and we will capture it.”
A “surprised” Mr Brady said his Chamber had backed the project, its jobs and training opportunities. “This decision now raises the issue of where these jobs will come from.”
The Star Entertainment Group’s Queensland managing director Geoff Hogg, developing a new 700-room hotel at its Broadbeach casino site, welcomed the decision for a masterplan at The Spit.
“As a stakeholder with a significant investment in the area via the Sheraton Grand Mirage, we look forward to participating in those discussions,” he said. “We have a commitment to delivering world-class tourism developments to the Gold Coast, including a masterplan for The Star Gold Coast.”