TOWER OF STRENGTH
Early Christmas gift for tradies as Surfers Paradise towers fast-tracked
WORK will be fast-tracked on one of the city’s biggest development sites, creating another jobs boost for the Gold Coast building industry.
Ralan Group has announced it will build another three towers on the Surfers Paradise site of the old Paradise Resort to complete the $1.4 billion Ruby Collection.
Work is set to begin on the second tower in the new year, with the project tipped to create thousands of jobs.
WORK will be fast-tracked on one of the city’s biggest development sites in the new year, creating a jobs bonanza for the Gold Coast building industry.
Ralan Group has announced it will build another three towers on the Surfers Paradise site of the old Paradise Resort to complete the $1.4 billion Ruby Collection. The first highrise was completed last month. The ageing resort will be demolished following the end of the busy summer season, making way for 60, 55 and 30-level towers, which will contain more than 1400 units and resort facilities.
Originally, Ralan had proposed starting work on two towers late next year and had not set a date for the final highrise.
Ralan Group boss William O’Dwyer told the Bulletin the project would create more than 5000 jobs during construction with a further 1100 permanent jobs once the buildings were finished.
“Within the first four months (of 2019) we want to commence on the second, third and fourth towers,” he said.
“The bookings so far show me that my assumptions about the Gold Coast were correct and the product will be absorbed (by the market). I discovered that we are now 100 per cent booked in this tower for the Christmas period.”
Work on the towers will take more than three years and is expected to be completed by early 2023.
Mr O’Dwyer, whose total investment in the city will top $2 billion, said he was excited for the future.
“I love the Gold Coast and it is fair to say I am putting my money where my mouth is,” he said.
“I think the Gold Coast is by far the most exciting city in Australia – it is young, vibrant and innovative and has the best medical facilities and is continually voted one of the top destinations.”
It is the second project to be fast tracked – the next stage of works will begin at The Star in Broadbeach as part of its $2 billion masterplan.
Mayor Tom Tate praised the Ralan project’s economic impact. “This is a vote of confidence in the city and another world-class investment,” he said.
Mr O’Dwyer made the announcement yesterday while attending the launch of the 30storey first tower.
He said staying in the building for the first time this week had been a long-held dream.
GOLD Coast subbies and tradies received an early Christmas present yesterday with the announcement the high-end Ruby Collection project in Surfers Paradise will be fast-tracked.
The Ralan Group says it will start work on the remaining three towers in the first quarter of next year, months ahead of schedule.
The news is a welcome gift for subbies, some of whom have had a mixed year on the Gold Coast.
Hundreds were laid off or off site for days in September because of the wrangle between the builder and owner of the $1 billion Jewel project.
Tradies face an uncertain wait at the $1.2 billion Spirit tower, with a cloud over whether it will even go ahead, and, as reported today, subbies are facing difficulty at three Howard Group projects.
Elsewhere in the city, big projects such as the $2 billion master plan at The Star in Broadbeach are booming. Very soon construction will start on stage 3 of the light rail and work continues on upgrades of the M1.
Ralan Group boss William O’Dwyer said he had no concerns about fast-tracking work on his remaining towers — 60, 55 and 30 levels respectively.
“I love the Gold Coast and it is fair to say I am putting my money where my mouth is,” he said.
“I think the Gold Coast is by far the most exciting city in Australia – it is young, vibrant and innovative and has the best medical facilities and is continually voted one of the top destinations.”
Those people who live here already know that, as do the thousands of others migrating every year.
While the Gold Coast economy is diversifying by the day, and no longer solely reliant on development and tourism, construction is obviously still a major artery for the city.
Mayor Tom Tate this month said 35 cranes were in the Gold Coast skyline, creating thousands of jobs, as opposed to just two in 2011.
A buoyant development sector is a fabric of a vibrant Gold Coast and remains a telling sign that the city is healthy.
It also means tradies and subbies are not forced to leave the city and make the early morning trek up the M1 to build better towns and cities elsewehere in Queensland, as they had to do in the post GFC period.
The flow-on effects are equally enormous, with those wages being spent locally.
While other cities in Australia and the world lurch from one dark cloud to another, the Gold Coast construction industry largely has a good story to tell — and we should embrace it.