First look at Sunshine Gardens Atherton Resort
The company behind management of Cairns One and The Lakes has broken ground on a $20m hotel and housing development on the Atherton Tablelands.
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The company behind management of Cairns One and The Lakes has broken ground on a $20m hotel and housing development on the Atherton Tablelands.
In March 2019 Sunshine Group Australia applied to Tablelands Regional Council for a material change of use and reconfigure lot development application.
The Sydney-based company under the directorship of Jian Wei Sun (known as David) was granted conditional council approval to build a 66 room resort and 76 house and land packages.
The 2019 planning document proposed to stage the development in two parts, with Stage 1 comprising 29 lots and 34 units to the eastern side of the site.
All common indoor facilities would be built during stage 1 and stage 2 would be the balance of remaining lots, units and open space.
“The proposal relates to an integrated community title development which the applicant sees as being the most viable for the locality … the proposal is also intended to capture the short-term holiday and permanent accommodation markets,” the DA stated.
Plans submitted to council reveal a cafe attached to the main lobby building and four apartment block buildings surrounding a common pool area.
Council conditions included provision of taxi, emergency vehicle, bus and a disabled vehicle bay and required that a live-in caretaker must reside at the site, while the resort’s gym was not permitted to be open to the public.
In October 2022 Sunshine Group Australia made an operational works application for the site behind the Atherton International Club which was approved by council in January 2023 and the 49 lot stage 2 was given the green light in March last year.
About 10 blocks ranging in size from 800 to 500 sqm have already sold according to the Sunshine Gardens Resort website.
“Neither hot in summer nor cold in winter, it is perfect for retired professionals to indulge in exploring the beauty of the Atherton Tablelands,” promotional material states.
“The Atherton Resort is tailored to provide guests and residents with whatever service they need.”
Katy Zhou from GBR Reality said there had been recent strong interest in the development since earth works at the site began.
“All of a sudden this month we are getting a lot of inquiries,” she said.
“They are doing the earth works and building the road and getting the foundation done.”
Mr Sun said the display home of the $15-20m project is expected to be completed in about three months.
He said house and land packages ranged from $600-700,000 which would be built around a central resort that would offer hotel and short term holiday rentals, similar to Lakes Cairns Resort on Arthur St.
“My job is to make the subdivision, the land all flat, the commercial buildings and the hotel,” he said.
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Originally published as First look at Sunshine Gardens Atherton Resort
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