Development: Palm Beach tower construction booms despite fears of New York-style concrete jungle

This once quiet beachside suburb has been transformed into the Gold Coast’s newest development mecca. New data reveals the shocking number of people moving in as locals warn it can’t become “another New York”.

THE once quiet beachside suburb of Palm Beach has been transformed into the Gold Coast’s newest development mecca.

Nine building cranes have gone up along the Gold Coast Highway this year alone, making up half of the new projects across the city.

And more will be needed, with a fresh report revealing Palm Beach and its immediate surrounding suburbs will experience a 36 per cent population boom in the next 25 years.

PLANS FOR BEACHSIDE PALM BEACH TOWER

Drone image of Sunland's Palm Beach development Magnoli under construction.

SURF-THEMED TOWER UNVEILED FOR PALM BEACH

Developers and real estate experts say the surge in new residents is being driven both by downsizers and young people keen on the southern Gold Coast lifestyle.

Palm Beach is one of the few beachside suburbs to escape the heavy development of high-density towers.

However, the anticipated arrival of the light rail as part of a proposed future extension to Gold Coast Airport and a rapidly growing population has seen developers move in, buy up large tracts of land and begin building.

But not everyone is happy.

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Palm Beach development is progressing at a rapid rate, as cranes and high-rise towers hug the coastline. Picture: Glenn Hampson

PALM BEACH THE SLEEPING GIANT AWAKES

Long-term residents and local political leaders are unhappy about the influx of new buildings, warning that Palm Beach will lose its charm and appeal.

They fear it will turn into a “concrete jungle” like Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach.

The market outlook report, to be released next month by respected property consultancy firm Urbis, paints a picture of a suburb in flux. It reveals:

• The Palm Beach catchment area, which includes suburbs between Miami and Coolangatta, will grow by at least 850 people annually in the next 25 years and by 2041 will be home to 80,051 people, up from 58,824 in 2016 – an increase of around 36 per cent.

• The apartment market has recorded a median price growth of 6.4 per cent per year since 2014.

• An 11.3 per cent increase in unit transactions each year.

• The employment market is tipped to grow by 31 per cent in 25 years, with the biggest growth in healthcare, accommodation and food services.

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Developer Norm Rix. Picture: Jerad Williams

Long-time Gold Coast developer Norm Rix said the transformation of Palm Beach into a high-rise-heavy suburb was “inevitable”.

“It had to happen sooner or later,” he said. “The people who are down there are obviously upset as you would understand because the character is changing.

“Now these high-rise that are coming in, it’s inevitable. It had to happen. It’s going to continue to happen. The character is changing down there, they can’t stop that.

“Ultimately, I think it’s going to be good for the Gold Coast. With these high rises comes better facilities normally and it’s going to upgrade the whole of that area down there and bring it into the 20th century.”

Palm Beach has become a hub of activity. Picture: Glenn Hampson

More than $2.7 billion in public and private infrastructure is either under construction, in the planning stages or has been completed within the past year in surrounding suburbs.

These include the $709 million light rail Stage 3A, from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads, the $60 million expansion of Pavilions Palm Beach to create a new supermarket, and the expansions of both Gold Coast Airport and John Flynn Private Hospital.

Palm Beach in the year 2000. Picture: Mike Batterham.

Among the biggest residential developments under construction in Palm Beach is Sunland’s Magnoli project, with the first tower expected to be finished in mid-2020.

Sunland boss Sahba Abedian said Palm Beach was changing rapidly.

“More than 70 per cent of home buyers at Magnoli Apartments are downsizers from the southern Gold Coast and Tweed, swapping their family homes for large, luxury, pet-friendly apartments with an abundance of built-in amenity,” he said.

Palm Beach is undergoing a major transformation.

“Our investment will make a lasting contribution to the renewal already underway in Palm Beach, enhancing the architectural landscape and promoting beauty and harmony through design.”

But area councillor Daphne McDonald said it was essential to preserve the suburb’s character as it changed.

“Palm Beach was never meant to be another Surfers Paradise or Broadbeach – those were meant to be the big hubs of the Gold Coast – but we are now seeing it right down the coastline,” she said.

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Palm Beach in 1939.

“I am afraid we will lose the reason why people came here and while we knew Palm Beach has to take its share of the population, I believe there is a better way of doing it than a development taking out a whole block.

“We do not want to live in a concrete jungle. We cannot be another New York or Honolulu. The Gold Coast must be unique.”