Australia’s richest man drops plan for $300m Gold Coast tower on his wife’s insistence

AUSTRALIA’S richest person has canned a planned $300-million Gold Coast tower — at wife Rhonda’s insistence.

Harry Triguboff, Australia’s richest person, has canned a planned $300 million Gold Coast tower — at his wife Rhonda’s insistence.

AUSTRALIA’S richest person has canned a planned $300-million Gold Coast tower — at wife Rhonda’s insistence.

Harry Triguboff was planning a 61-level building on the site of his Pegasus serviced apartment twin towers at Broadbeach.

The building, approved by the Gold Coast City Council in June, was to have 293 apartments and construction was programmed to start before Christmas.

“It’s not happening,” Mr Triguboff said yesterday.

The planned and canned $300 million Gold Coast tower.

“Rhonda has put her foot down and vetoed the project.”

Mrs Triguboff yesterday said that the tower would ‘look horrible’ on the Pegasus site.

“I told Harry I won’t go up there (to the Gold Coast) any more if he builds it and that he’ll have to sell Silverpoint (their penthouse at Main Beach).

“I told him to buy another piece of land and leave Pegasus alone.”

Mr Triguboff was on the Gold Coast at the weekend and looked at potential land acquisitions.

Mrs Triguboff said she liked the landscaped outside area at Pegasus, some of which would be lost if the third tower went ahead.

“Everything would be crammed on the site and there’d be a problem with sunlight for the people in the existing buildings.

“On top of that, views would be blocked.

“I told Harry he didn’t need another tower there and not to be selfish.

“It’s the only time I’ve ever stood firm over one of his projects.

HARRY Triguboff and wife Rhonda at the Sundale launch.

“I sometimes have baulked at other things he’s wanted to do and I’ve had a few wins.”

Mr Triguboff, who founded the Meriton group in the early 1960s, is Australia’s biggest developer of apartments and has been given the tag High Rise Harry.

He topped this year’s BRW rich list with an estimated wealth of $10.62 billion.

The 83-year-old Sydney-based developer has built nearly 20 towers on the Gold Coast since the early 1980s.

He married wife Rhonda, 67, in 1980.

Mr Triguboff said Rhonda did not “dig her toes in” often.

“I know that when she does it’s time to listen.

“I’m quite comfortable with the Pegasus decision, even though I’ve invested time and funds in getting the building approved..

“As Rhonda says, it’s not like I need the money.”

The third Pegasus tower would have been Broadbeach’s tallest building and would have dwarfed the existing Pegasus towers, which were completed in 2008 and are 25 and 30 stories.

Meriton Serviced Apartments runs 405 full-service hotel suites in the buildings.

The Pegasus site, between the Gold Coast Highway and Surf Pde, was bought from property marketeer Dudley Quinlivan for $33 million in 2004.