Construction has begun on Southport’s newest skyscraper in its push to become the Gold Coast’s ‘true CBD’

Construction has begun on Southport’s newest tower as the suburb evolves to become the Gold Coast’s ‘true CBD’.

Buildcap Director Stuart Biggs and Gold Coast Councillor Brooke Patterson and Sunbuilt Managing Director Damien Todd look over the site of Tower Two at Marine Quarter in Southport. Picture Glenn Hampson

Construction has begun on Southport’s newest tower as the suburb evolves to become the Gold Coast’s ‘true CBD’.

The $140 million second tower at Developer Buildcap’s Marine Quarter will aim to deliver more than 150 new apartments, reinforcing what Buildcap’s managing director Stuart Biggs says is Southport’s role as a key urban centre.

He said the suburb’s transformation into the Gold Coast’s true CBD was already in progress, with the city’s much anticipated masterplan set to reposition the area.

“In just eight years, a global television audience of billions will be watching events unfold right down the road (at the 2032 Olympics),” he said.

“Now is the time for Southport to establish itself as the cultural and economic hub of the Gold Coast.”

Area councillor Brooke Patterson promised the Southport master plan would come to council soon and that it was “shaping up really well.”

She said Southport was already the economic centre of the Gold Coast, holding 20 per cent of the workforce of the city, and that it’s now more about “how do we harness that, celebrate it and raise it to the next level”.

Buildcap Director Stuart Biggs and Gold Coast Councillor Brooke Patterson and Sunbuilt Managing Director Damien Todd look over the site of Tower Two at Marine Quarter in Southport. Picture Glenn Hampson

The 34-level development will sit next to its brother tower on Marine Pde, where residents finally began moving in late last year after what Buildcap’s Ingrid Davoli called “a firestorm of existential crises most projects would not have survived”.

“Few could withstand the collapse of its builder (GCB Constructions) and more than a $20m increase in construction and holding costs,” she said.

“But we ploughed on and are ecstatic that many buyers will be settling and taking possession of their new homes.”

Mr Biggs added that “the construction start demonstrates the company’s undiminished confidence in Southport as it grows into the City’s true CBD.”

Originally published as Construction has begun on Southport’s newest skyscraper in its push to become the Gold Coast’s ‘true CBD’