DEVELOPMENTS OF THE YEAR
WE REVEAL OUR TOP 10 PICKS
THE Gold Coast’s building and development industry is defying expectations of a slowdown after the Commonwealth Games.
The first wave of an expected $30 billion influx of projects spinning out of the Games has begun washing in, with a series of large towers and major developments proposed or beginning construction in recent months.
Uncertainty hangs over the fate of long-proposed developments such as the $2 billion Spirit and the offshore cruise ship terminal at The Spit.
But with 35 cranes in the city’s sky and more to come in the next year, the industry is ready for a busy 2019 as the markets of the capital cities cool.
This year’s crop of developments has seen a turn away from supertowers to a focus on smaller boutique towers catering to specific markets.
While giant mega-towers remain on the cards, industry figures say these smaller designs are responding to the market’s interests.
1: THE STAR MASTERPLAN BROADBEACH
THE Gold Coast’s biggest project, this masterplan is injecting more than $2 billion into the economy.
This year saw the Coast’s casino joined by its second tower, 19-level The Darling which opened in March.
But workers soon returned to the site after strong preliminary sales saw the Star’s third tower, The Dorsett, be fast-tracked.
Construction began in August on the $400 million, 54- level hotel and unit tower which will begin to rise out of the ground in 2019.
And there’s more to come, with at least four more towers approved by the State Government in October.
2: RUBY COLLECTION (TOWERS 2-4) SURFERS PARADISE
THIS $1.4 billion project reached a major milestone last month when the first 30-level tower opened its doors to the public.
Expect to see plenty of work at the Surfers Paradise site in the new year, with construction of towers two, three and four fast-tracked to begin in the first quarter of 2019.
The Paradise Resort will be demolished at the end of the summer and replaced by 60, 55 and 30-level towers.
The project will create more than 5000 jobs during the construction phase with a further 1100 permanent jobs once the buildings were finished.
Work on the towers will take more than three years and is expected to be completed by early 2023.
3: IMPERIAL SQUARE, SOUTHPORT
DESTINED to become the southern hemisphere’s tallest tower at an eye-watering 108storeys, construction of this development will begin in early 2019.
The first stage of the project will be an 18-storey hotel tower which will cater exclusively to Millennials.
Its features will include outdoor cinemas, rooftop bars, “superfast” Wi-Fi, and the ability to use smartphones to access both rooms and lifts.
The Tryp tower will feature the 252-room hotel on its top five floors. The bottom floors include a 346-room student accommodation and education complex.
The tower will also feature a 2500sq m integrated hospitality school in its lower levels.
Azzura Investments will break ground on The Tryp Hotel on the corner of Southport’s Meron St and Gillian Lane in the first half of 2019, with further towers to follow.
The centrepiece of the completed project will be the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest tower, at 108 storeys.
4. 252 HEDGES AVE, MERMAID BEACH
SUNLAND is one of the Gold Coast’s biggest developers and has begun work on its newest project.
The $250 million tower will rise on Hedges Ave, the Gold Coast’s own ‘Millionaire’s Row’
The 45-storey tower is due for completion in 2022 and has already sold more than 60 per cent of its 97 luxury units.
The beachfront tower is located just moments from the retail and dining precincts of Broadbeach and Pacific Fair, and The Star Hotel and Casino.
Private resident amenities include a dedicated concierge service, lounge, boardroom, function room, swimming pool, spa, gym, sauna, Turkish steam room, and treatment rooms.
5: GOLD COAST TITANS CLUB, OXENFORD
A NEWLY proposed project, this will be a community and leagues club for the city’s NRL side, the Gold Coast Titans.
Earmarked for a 22,000sq m site of council-owned land, a development application was filed this week after the Gold Coast Bulletin revealed its existence last month.
It will go before councillors in March and construction will begin later in the year, if approved by council.
It will feature a bar, restaurant, gaming rooms and other community facilities.
The club says it is vital to the NRL team’s financial future.
It is expected to open to the public in 2021.
6: 180 MARINE PDE, LABRADOR
SUNLAND’S other major project, this 16-storey tower will be built on the former KFC site at Labrador.
It replaces a previously proposed 35-storey tower which Sunland had already secured approval for.
The residential tower will have a series of four luxury twostorey, four-bedroom villas for a total of 85 units with 198 bedrooms.
The project will be launched in the first half of 2019.
Its amenities include landscaped gardens, shared barbecue facilities, lounge, a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, and change rooms.
The tower is expected to go before the council’s planning committee midnext year.
Under the original proposal, Sunland wanted to build a tower which had 217 apartments.
7: SCULPT TOWER, SURFERS PARADISE
A UNIQUE project, this tower is unlike any previously mooted.
Put forward by Sculpt
Developments, this 20-storey tower has been pitched as the city’s biggest artwork.
A Hobbit-esque ‘skygarden’ with huge art pieces, a giant pair of hands set in concrete, a feature pool and views of the Coast’s beaches and hinterland are the centrepieces of the asymmetric high-rise.
It’s earmarked for a site on the corner of Oak and Birt Aves in Budds Beach, neighbouring the Ralan Group’s $1.4 billion Ruby and $1.2 billion Sapphire developments.
A development application was filed late last month with the Gold Coast City Council and the project is set to go before the planning committee for approval in the first half of 2019. THE first stage of this $300 million project opened earlier this year and has fast become one of the Gold Coast’s most popular concert venues.
The Amphitheatre has already hosted the likes of Neil Finn and Tim Minchin and more gigs are planned for next year.
It will be joined in 2019 by stage two of the cultural precinct — a $60 million art gallery and a $19 million bridge which will connect Evandale with Chevron Island.
Work has begun on both projects, as well as a new carpark on the site’s southern side.
The bridge is expected to be completed in late 2019 while the art gallery will be finished in 2020.
A third stage is expected to be built.
9: OCEAN TOWER,
OCEAN is the latest project from Australia’s second richest man, ‘High-rise’ Harry Triguboff.
Topping out at 74-storeys, it will become the city’s second tallest building once completed.
The tower was approved earlier this year and construction has already begun.
The work is set to take around three years to complete.
Apartment buyers will only be able to buy from level 45 and above.
The lower floors would be
10: GOLD COAST LOGISTICS HUB
devoted to hotel suites trading under the Meriton brand.
Ocean, which will top out at 252 metres, will accommodate more people than any building on the Gold Coast.
It is to have 262 apartments and 446 hotel suites and is being built on a 3833 sqm site at 84 The Esplanade. Logistics company Toll is will spend $200 million building a large hub and industrial project on the 22ha Arundel site which was formerly the home to Colgate Palmolive. The initial stage of the project will be a purpose-built 10,250sq m regional logistics facility.
Toll will also consolidate all of its existing Gold Coast depots on to the land, which will be developed over a 12year period and will employ 120 people.
The first sod was turned in August with the fit out due to be completed by April 2019.
The site is being developed by LOGOS and Partners Group which bought it for $22.6 million last year.