It’s tried and trusted
TRUST House, the oldest multi-level office building in Surfers Paradise, is being sold by its owner of the past six years and marketed as a potential development site.
The 53-year-old four-level building on a 911sq m site fronts Surfers Paradise Blvd and backs on to Appel St.
The zoning allows for a mixed-use project with no limit on height.
Surfers Paradise Properties, owned by Chinese investors, bought Trust House, at 3070 Surfers Paradise Blvd, for $4.35m in 2015 at what was termed a court-ordered trustee sale. It is being sold via an expressions-of-interest campaign that closes on March 26.
Antonio Mercuri, of GV Property Group, said Trust House was being marketed at a time when developers were showing new enthusiasm for Surfers Paradise.
He said the property’s centre zoning allowed great flexibility in terms of such things as site cover and density, and there was potential for podium carparking rather than basement parking.
“The site looks directly down Laycock St to the beach and the view obviously could be greatly enhanced in all directions by a project of some height,” he said.
Trust House, which has retail space at street level, has a lettable area of 1795sq m. It has 23 tenancies; nine occupied.
Mr Mercuri said existing leases were short or periodic, which would allow a buyer a quick route to upgrade the property or develop the site.
Trust House was built in 1968 for Frank McLaughlin, of McLaughlins Solicitors, and did not change hands until 1988, when it sold for $4.2m.
David Chiu bought it for $2.18m in 1995 and refurbished the building the following year.
Several attempts were made to sell Trust House from 2002 until Surfers Paradise Properties bought it in 2015.