Golden Shores: Giant tower to replace 1980s-era Labrador unit block

The owners of a waterfront unit block have lodged plans to demolish the three-storey building and replace it with a 25-storey tower.

THE old-timers among the Gold Coast’s timeshare resorts could be poised to see their ‘time’s up’ list gain a new member.

The ageing of timeshare owners and rises in land values have caught up with four of the city’s so-called legacy towers over the past eight years.

Now another of the properties born when timeshare came to town in the 1980s and early 1990s has moved into the exit waiting room.

If all goes to plan, 36-year-old low-rise Golden Shores at Labrador could be bowled to make way for a tower.

Golden Shores resort at 210 Marine Parade, Labrador. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The other resorts ‘retired’ from the timeshare pool have been Tiki Village, Voyager, Sandy Point and Surfers Royale.

The only building among the four that no longer is standing is Surfers Royale, which is being replaced by up-market beachfront Surfers Paradise high-rise Royale.

Tiki Village is operating as a hotel and Voyager and Sandy Point as apartment towers.

The unfolding timeshare story is a far cry from the 1980s when the industry emerged as a boom one, not without controversy, on the Gold Coast.

Artist impression of proposed redevelopment of the Golden Shores Holiday Club at Labrador on the Gold Coast.

Thousands of sun-lovers from far and wide, including New Zealand, dived in to buy timeshare intervals in the buildings, thus locking in entitlements to holiday in apartments for a week or more each year.

Big-name developers such as Tibor Balong and Morven Dan, of Dainford fame, were players in the game, as was Melbourne barrister Harry Schmelling who built Broadbeach’s Voyager in 1983.

Not everyone perceived aspects of this ‘new’ industry as savoury.

Golden Shores resort at 210 Marine Parade, Labrador. Picture: Glenn Hampson

High-pressure marketing drew allegations of dubious methods being used and of ‘cowboys’ being involved.

Five of the timeshare forerunners will remain operating should moves to end Golden Shore’s life as a resort succeed.

That doesn’t mean the industry is dwindling – timeshare has evolved internationally and today includes holiday clubs run by the likes of hotel giants Accor and Marriott that draw members to the Gold Coast.

The ‘originals’ still operating in the city are the Beach House and Beachcomber International resorts in Coolangatta, Mariner Shores at Miami, the Jadon Place apartments at Broadbeach Waters, and the Cedar Lakes Country Club at Advancetown, Nerang.

Any of the properties contemplating leaving the industry could face a far from fast exit.

Legwork on selling Voyager started seven years ago and it was only earlier this year that the property changed hands – for $45m.

Golden Shores resort at 210 Marine Parade, Labrador. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The move to wind up the timeshare scheme at the Dainford-built Golden Shores began with a member survey.

It was followed by meeting last August that gave a unanimous yes to the wind-up and to the sale of the building within five years.

The agreement of the owners of the scheme’s 1632 intervals meant the resort could be put under one title.

Sandy Point, which was sold last year for $24m, was in a trust with a 40-year lifespan.

Surfers Royale owners had to vote every 10 years to keep their timeshare operation rolling.

Buyers came along in 2015 with a cheque for $22.37 million to snare the tower’s plum seat by the ocean.

That same holding was sold last year for $45m.

Meanwhile, the owners of the Golden Shores Holiday Club are adding some garnish to their property to make the 1546sq m site, which overlooks the Broadwater, more appealing to buyers and hence more valuable.

Approval is being sought for a 25-floor tower with 85 units.

The ‘club’ will continue down the timeshare track until that approval is gained and a buyer is signed up.

TOWER SHELVED

Artist impression of Belvue tower proposed for Runaway Bay by Monaco Property Group and Polites Property Group.

JAY McPhee and Jonathan Grasso, Monaco Property Group partners, have shelved plans for a luxury tower beside the Broadwater at Biggera Waters and are land-banking their $6m site.

The move, being made despite their Belvue project being more than half pre-sold, is being put down to rising costs and uncertainty in the construction industry.

The McPhee-Grasso team has decided it’s easier to source builders for townhouses and is putting its full focus on Capri Villas, a $100m-plus up-market venture on the Isle of Capri.

DEVELOPER’S RETURN

DAIWA House, a giant Japanese company that left Australia in the late 90s in the wake of a tough time on the Gold Coast, is back – this time in Melbourne.

Japan’s biggest home-builder developed the Inlet tower at Main Beach and bought, but never developed, the Hollywell caravan park, today home to the Allisee community.

Daiwa, which held an auction in 1998 to clear stock in its then eight-year-old Inlet, is the major partner in a Melbourne build-to-rent project, one which will include a karaoke area.

Originally published as Golden Shores: Giant tower to replace 1980s-era Labrador unit block