Barry Morris still building on Gold Coast — 12 years after making his debut

WHO is the Coast developer leaving Soheil, Harry and Jim in his wake? This man has unobtrusively picked up the mantle of being the city’s most active apartment tower developer.

Barry Morris continues to build towers on the Gold Coast — 12 years after completing his first project.

STEP aside Jim, Soheil and Harry — Barry’s leaving you in his slipstream.

Barry Morris, who made a major commercial-residential mark in Canberra before heading north, unobtrusively has picked up the mantle of being the city’s most active apartment tower developer.

The Mermaid Beach resident has bustled past long-time high-rise heavyweights Jim Raptis and Soheil Abedian and his listed Sunland Group.

He could even, modesty permitting, say he’s been busier in the tourism capital in the past few years than the nation’s high-rise king, Harry Triguboff.

Barry, either solo or in tandem with Canberra partner Graham Potts, has built six towers.

He has a $600 million “pipeline” in his own name, with three towers under way and another three on the market. There are at least another three sites in his pocket.

The “already built” numbers pale against the records of Jim, Soheil and Harry but their efforts have spanned at least three decades. The first Morris-linked tower was completed only 11 years ago.

Artist's impression of the fourth-level indoor/outdoor recreation floor at Broadbeach tower, Qube.

Jim’s Raptis Group was sidelined by the GFC but he privately has slid back in the game with towers called WaterPoint at Biggera Waters and Signature at Labrador.

The once prolific Soheil and Sunland haven’t built a Gold Coast high-rise since completing the two Circle on Cavill towers a decade ago.

Harry, who wrapped up his Brighton on Broadwater project last year, is in limbo until he starts new tower Ocean in Surfers Paradise in the next few months. Meanwhile, it’s been a case of Barry, with an almost rigid focus on the beachside Broadbeach-Burleigh strip, motoring ahead.

Since he and Graham Potts completed debut tower Verve at Broadbeach in 2006, five more towers have been completed.

Qube at Broadbeach, with 202 apartments, is the biggest of those Barry has under way.

It seems that since starting Qube the economics graduate has become very analytical and, according to a Morris offsider, has refined his high-rise formula.

That, in a nutshell, means concentrating on projects that are more than boutique but not too big — say 100 apartments.

The theory is that you only need to sell 50 to be able to start construction, show pending buyers the project’s under way, and provide buildings of a size that customers like.

Of course, when it comes to apartment towers, location is paramount and the Morris modus operandi — especially the Broadbeach focus — is paying off handsomely.

Other developers share his enthusiasm for the family-friendly suburb, with more than a dozen apartment towers under way, being marketed or in the pipeline.

By contrast, Main Beach is bereft of any high-rise development and Surfers Paradise is not exactly bursting with high-rise activity.

Barry Morris and business partner Graham Potts.

GOLD COAST HOSPITAL SITE

THE wraps slowly are coming off the tightly-guarded amount Brisbane’s Property Solutions is paying for Southport’s former Gold Coast Hospital site.

The group’s paid $10.72 million for the first of the site’s three titles and is believed to be up for a bit more than $30 million for the whole parcel — way short of the State Government’s $70 million hope.

Property Solutions is preparing to release stage-one of a $550 million masterplanned project, Queen Street Village.

An artist's impression of the first stage of Queen Street Village, which is planned for the old Gold Coast Hospital site. Photo: Supplied

THE FUTURE OF DRIFTWOOD

THE Chinese buyer who in midyear bought the last freestanding house on The Esplanade in Surfers Paradise has reverted the building to units and tenanted them.

Driftwood, originally a four-unit low-rise, was converted to a seven-bedroom house prior to being sold for $6.55 million at a July auction.

The ‘house’, which had seven bedrooms and six bathrooms, has since been changed to three apartments which apparently are rented at from $400 plus to more than $800 a week.

Lachlan Harris. Picture: Richard Gosling

CBRE MOVES

THE lead-up to Christmas wasn’t all cheer for property major CBRE, with two of its key Gold Coast operators quietly pulling the plug.

Lachlan Harris, who 16 months ago was promoted to head of the Gold Coast office, and offsider Mason Kidman appear to have new plans for 2018.

They’ve been the key men in the marketing of development sites in the city for CBRE, with their last CBRE listings including a major holding for Westfield at Helensvale.