Gosford development: The Archibald and Gosford Alive on hold as both sites up for sale

Two landmark developments for Gosford – with a combined value of $745m – are in doubt for the future leaving coasties wondering if developer confidence has fallen across the region.

Two major developments planned in the heart of Gosford — with an investment value of $745m — have come to a screaming holt.

The former Kibbleplex site on Donnison St and The Archibald site on the corner of Mann St and Donnison St are both up for sale, signalling the potential end for the tower developments planned to fill the city’s skyline and breathe life into Gosford.

Both properties recently hit the market with Colliers Real Estate, advertised as prime development sites in the heart of Gosford CBD.

The $345m Gosford Alive project for the old Kibbleplex site, owned by The Lederer Group, has been in the wings for more than 10 years. It received conditional approval in 2020 for five towers with more than 700 apartments along with commercial spaces.

Artist impression of the Gosford Alive development on the old Kibbleplex Shopping Centre site. Picture: supplied

First images of The Archibald were released in October 2019.

Meanwhile, The Archibald — a $400m development for Macarthur Projects — was hailed as “Gosford’s most significant transformation” when it was announced in 2019 and had approval for two towers with 289 apartments and 167 hotel suites.

Gosford Erina Business Chamber president Rod Dever said he wasn’t concerned about a potential lack of developer confidence in Gosford.

“We just need the right developers with dollars ready and backers in place to develop their project,” he said.

Mr Dever said the loss of The Archibald was “no concern” with the company having many issues including a scaffolding accident in 2020, change of builders and launch date of January which came and went with no action.

“They came through with so much fanfare and left us with a pile of weeds,” he said.

“The fact that it’s for sale may get some traction on it. The site can be developed so that’s a good thing.”

Gosford Erina Chamber of Commerce president Rod Dever said Gosford needs developers that are ready to go. Picture: Sue Graham

He said 80 per cent of apartments sold had for stage one of The Archibald.

Mr Dever said the Kibbleplex site sale was also no surprise with The Lederer Group selling the Imperial Centre to concentrate on commercial developments.

“It’s a loss but it’s also an ideal project site,” he said.

“From a chamber perspective, we hope whoever buys them buys them for development. Our greatest concern is someone coming in and landbanking them.”

Colliers residential development site director Eugene White said the former Kibbleplex site had been on the market for around two weeks however a reason for sale had not been made public.

“It’s untenanted at the moment so it’s a good time and it has got approval for development,” he said.

Development of the former Kibbleplex site has been in the wings for many years.

He described Gosford as a “rough diamond” and said it was unique to have two significant developments come up for sale at the same time.

When plans for The Archibald were revealed in October 2019, it was hailed as Gosford’s “most significant transformation” with promises of a world class rooftop bar, apartments, hotel, restaurants and shops.

First images of the development revealed the stunning two towers to be 25 and 26 storeys high.

Construction on The Archibald started in early 2020 when the old hotel was being demolished.

During demolition works, there was a scaffolding accident which saw eight cars and a ute partially crushed. Picture: Fiona Killman

The Archibald site has since become overgrown with weeds.

The site became well known for the wrong reasons on August 19 2020 when a wall of scaffolding several metres high collapsed during demolition works crushing eight cars and one ute. A woman was miraculously the only person injured, taken to hospital with minor injuries after being hit by a steel pole.

Colliers Newcastle director in charge Peter Macadam said The Archibald site was “one of the last remaining mixed use DA Approved development opportunities offering scale, located within the heart of central Gosford”.

He described the site as a “landmark” and said from a Gosford point of view, hopefully it won’t be on the market for long.

CEO of the NSW Urban Taskforce Tom Forrest. Picture: David Swift

Urban Taskforce Australia chief executive officer Tom Forrest said developers buy and sell properties for many reasons.

“The property development community has been frustrated by State Government and local administration of planning rules for some time,” he said.

“Sadly, it would be no surprise that some have given up on the Central Coast in this context.

“The development community are looking for confidence and certainty from government. The new Minister for Cities has a chance to drive the Central Coast forward by coordinating infrastructure to support growth. We are all hoping this is a great success.”

Mr Forrest said Gosford and the Central Coast were viewed as important parts of Greater Sydney.

“Their growth depends on confident and competent administration and leadership in the planning space,” he said. “Delays in planning decision making present the biggest challenges for the development community across NSW. This applies equally to Gosford.”

The Express has contacted Macarthur Projects and The Lederer Group regarding their reasons for the sale.