CHEAPER PARKING PROMISED
PARKING fees will be slashed at the Bruce Bishop Car Park, which will undergo a drastic modernisation under its new owner.
Care Park is the new coowner of the car park, along with developer Far East Consortium, after purchasing it from the Gold Coast City Council for $48 million.
Care Park state manager Peter Roberts told the Gold Coast Bulletin the company would make parking at the facility cheaper.
THE Gold Coast City Council is under pressure to provide a valuation report on the Bruce Bishop car park following claims of a fire sale of the major city asset.
The Save Surfers Paradise group, which is opposed to the sale, has written to planning committee chairman Cameron Caldwell asking for the release of a council officer’s report on the sale of the car park.
The council is expected to make available a redacted version of the report with commercial-in-confidence details likely to be removed.
In a Save Surfers Paradise email to Cr Caldwell, he was asked if a valuation obtained by the council last year to justify the sale would be released to the public; if not, why not; and what the valuation was in 2017.
The Bulletin yesterday was advised there were 12 bidders by close of tender in November 2017.
The assessment process evaluating the offers – in which councillors were not involved – eliminated 10 contenders, with the remaining two bids subjected to intensive assessment and due diligence.
Council officers originally estimated the value of the site at $40 million, which included the constraints of the state of the asset and conditions of future use involving existing leases, 740 public car park spaces to always be retained, public open space requirements and various setbacks.
The council maintains this meant the negotiated price of $48 million was 20 per cent higher than anticipated – a boon, it says, for ratepayers.
But opponents yesterday contended a sale price of $100 million was first mooted, which reflected the replacement cost of a valuable community asset.
“So far there has been no response (by Cr Caldwell). The council must make full disclosure of the deal in the public interest, as a matter of transparency and good
governance,’’ said Save Surfers Paradise secretary Deborah Kelly.
“So far we have had a very general statement by Cr Caldwell that is scant on the important details of the deal.”
Cr Caldwell yesterday told the Bulletin: “The questions posed by Ms Kelly have been canvassed extensively in the council meeting held yesterday and subsequent press release and conference.
“I note with interest that Ms Kelly has now publicly recorded her support for the sale.”
Ms Kelly said the deal amounted to $3000 per square metre, which she said was on the low side compared to sales of other development sites around town.
“By way of comparison, the nearby Tiki Village site sold for over $6500 per square metre. That is more typically the price range,” she said.
“We call upon the council to release all information, including the council report, unredacted. There is no excuse for any more secrecy and the council must be able to publicly justify its decision to offload one of its largest assets at a seemingly bargain basement price.”
Former council finance committee chairman Eddy Sarroff, a real estate agency owner, said much smaller development sites in Broadbeach were fetching $6000 to $7000 per square metre.
“It has been a fire sale. It’s not easier to amalgamate (sites). The big thing in the real estate business is to get big parcels of land,” Mr Sarroff said.
“This is a desperate council. This is the most important site in the city. Point me to any other site with such proximity to the heart of the city.
“We should give it to our children and grandchildren to use it as a public asset. This is a tragedy.”
THE COUNCIL MUST BE ABLE TO PUBLICLY JUSTIFY ITS DECISION TO OFFLOAD ONE OF ITS LARGEST ASSETS AT A SEEMINGLY BARGAIN BASEMENT PRICE
SAVE SURFERS PARADISE SECRETARY DEBORAH KELLY