BOAT JOBS BOOM
About 3500 positions up for grabs as marine giants unveil twin $100m expansion plans
TWO marine heavyweights are about to undergo major transformations in the city’s north in what promises to be a jobs bonanza for Gold Coast workers.
The Boat Works marina in Coomera will this morning announce it is spending $100 million to almost double its shipyard and marina, and create a new dining and retail precinct to rival Marina Mirage at Main Beach. The entire project will require 2000 extra workers.
Up the road, Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard – already the largest facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere – will create 1300 additional jobs in anticipation of a boom in big boat visits. It will double in size by spending $100 million developing 20ha at its Waterway Drive base.
$100M EXPANSION NO.1
A GOLD Coast shipyard is to undergo a $100-million transformation, turning it into the Marina Mirage of the city’s northern corridor and creating 2000 jobs.
The Boat Works marina, which markets itself as “Australia’s greatest boatyard”, will almost double in size under a vision understood to be led by its owner Tony Longhurst.
A major announcement at the Coomera marine precinct shipyard this morning will unveil full details and designs but the Bulletin can reveal:
● Private investment in the vicinity of $100m;
● A near doubling in size of The Boat Works’ existing 23ha shipyard and marina to 43ha;
● 2000 additional jobs to complete the project and to operate new businesses attracted to the enlarged precinct;
● Creation of a new dining and shopping precinct on the edge of the Coomera River to rival Marina Mirage at Main Beach.
The plan and its promise of thousands of new jobs is welcome news for the city at a time when the Jewel towers development upheaval has left 900 tradies’ jobs in limbo.
A source close to the project said it would be set up to attract boutique retail and top restaurants, as well as create more space for berthing and businesses offering refits and repairs.
Mr Longhurst declined to comment, saying all would be revealed today.
But the source said: “They are going to get over 100 more businesses in there and hundreds more boats.
“The Boat Works is going to be doubling its footprint. It will create the Marina Mirage of the northern side of the city, with boutiques, retail and restaurants.”
The revamped marina would not just be a hub for boaties but also locals to visit.
But a key aim of the expansion is believed to be about attracting bigger luxury boats to the precinct, capitalising on earmarked dredging of the Coomera
River.
Mr Longhurst, a two-time Bathhurst motor racing champion, is the son of John Longhurst, the entrepreneur who created the Dreamworld theme park now owned by Ardent Leisure.
His brother Rodney Longhurst owns luxury boat building giant Riviera.
Tony Longhurst has always had major ambitions for The Boat Works since focusing on its development five years ago.
Back in mid-2015, two years after taking over, he told the Bulletin: “We’ve set some realistic goals, the whole business is very goal orientated as far as numbers and bonuses. We have made it a real team effort.
“We have all the different areas really motivated to get results – actually it is very much like it was when I was car racing.”
THE BOAT WORKS ... WILL CREATE THE MARINA MIRAGE OF THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE CITY, WITH BOUTIQUES, RETAIL AND RESTAURANTS