Tony Longhurst’s $100m spend on Coomera precinct well ahead of rival
As one of the Gold Coast’s major shipyards prepares for a lavish Bond-themed party to unveil stage 1 of $100m expansion plans, its main rival appears stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
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BOAT WARS
They call it the shipyard wars.
Tony Longhurst’s The Boat Works and the Gay family’s Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard have long vied for supremacy on the riverfront at Coomera.
Both groups announced ambitious $100 million expansion plans last October to roughly double in size but it looks like only Longhurst’s project has gotten any traction so far.
The first stage of his newly-improved site, dubbed a “superyacht precinct’’, will be unveiled Friday night at an invite-only soiree.
For some unknown reason, organisers have settled on a James Bond theme for the event under the banner of “Shaken, Not Stirred’’.
Dress code is oddly specified as “smart casual 007-themed black, white, gold’’. As in Goldfinger, we’re guessing?
Rounding out the secret agent vibe will be some spiffy Aston Martin cars, diamond jewellery and copious quantities of Moet & Chandon.
Also on display will be some pretty impressive new boats from Galeon Yachts and Ocean Alexander.
Under the redevelopment scheme, Longhurst has delivered a new 50-berth marina and what he claims is Australia’s first “dry marina” able to provide storage for up to 200 vessels.
Once complete later this year, the project will also feature 20 superyacht sheds, hardstand storage for the massive boats and a 300 tonne travel lift.
The upgrade, which has added 23 acres to Longhurst’s original 20-acre site, is tipped to include a new waterfront dining and shopping precinct.
Longhurst, the son of Dreamworld theme park founder John Longhurst, estimates that 2000 jobs will be added both directly and indirectly as a result of his big spend.
Who knows? He might even get some business from his brother Rodney, who runs luxury boat building outfit Riviera.
STUCK IN LIMBO
Meanwhile, Trenton Gay and his team down the street at Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard appear to be stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
No shovels have yet hit the dirt. They couldn’t even give us a target date when work will kick off on what will be their biggest growth project since the complex opened 19 years ago as the biggest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
“We are currently working hand-in-hand with City of Gold Coast and State Development to finalise approvals on our 20 ha Stage 2 site,’’ Gay told City Beat yesterday.
“We will not commence construction without the appropriate approvals in place and, being a waterfront development, matters such as flood mitigation and environmental compliance are being carefully considered and worked through with the appropriate authorities.’’
Assuming all the important bits of paper are signed off, Gay says his expanded and improved complex will be better able to cater for super yachts, wide beam catamarans and sailing yachts.
New facilities are set to include a 1000 tonne capacity lift and undercover refit and repair workshops across the 37.5 ha property.
Until then, Gay’s got the bragging rights for the Australian Superyacht Rendezvous, which plays out at his marina on May 17 and 18 in a coincidental clash with the federal election date.
For the third year in a row, nearly 30 of the enormous and lavishly kitted-out vessels--collectively valued at more than $200 million--will be parked side-by-side to allow for the mother of all sticky beaks.
All are for charter or sale at around the $10-12 million price point, including a 63-metre long beast from the US known as M/Y SuRi, which cruises the waters of both the South Pacific and South America.
It comes with a very blokey set of toys, including a helicopter, sea plane, wave-runners, jet skis, dune buggies and a hovercraft. Sounds like fun on steroids!
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