Marina Mirage: Full story of Luxury Gold Coast shopping centre from Christopher Skase to redevelopment

The end is nigh for Marina Mirage, with the wrecking ball moving in on the luxury shopping centre ahead of a major redevelopment of what was once dubbed “Toorak of the GC”.

The end is nigh for Marina Mirage.

The luxury shopping centre will be demolished in 2025 and the site redeveloped to become a high-end hotel.

The 1980s-era property will undergo a $500m redevelopment by Makris Group to become part of Marriott International’s Luxury Collection Resort portfolio when it opens in 2027.

The new “first-class” hotel will have 122 rooms and be built as the complex is transformed into a “mixed-use precinct”.

Richard Crawford, Marriott International’s Australia hotel development vice president, said the development, which is expected to begin construction this year, would become a “destination-defining project”.

Marina Mirage

It comes nearly 40 years after the project was first envisaged by controversial businessman and developer Christopher Skase.

The late Skase’s Qintex Group began buying up land on The Spit in 1985, securing the old Andalucia Park attraction with plans for a “top-class hotel”.

The following year, plans for the Sheraton Mirage were announced, with a twin project at Port Douglas in north Queensland.

Construction began soon after and in April 1986 plans were unveiled for Marina Mirage, a high-end shopping centre.

The initial plans called for a 150-berth marina, 8000sq m of retail space, room for 36 shops and restaurants.

Businessman Christopher Skase in the 1980s.

But Skase’s plans drew criticism from environmentalists that the Spit was already being overdeveloped.

Father Ray Smith, speaking at a memorial that month to late MP Doug Jennings, said the projects “would be known as a monument to greed and arrogance”.

The shopping centre, which cost $60m to build, was earmarked for a mid-1988 opening, with more than 15,000 people expected to visit the centre each day during its opening weeks of trading.

Lunch at Cafe Romas, Marina Mirage, in March 1996.

Its tenants included Loewe of Spain, Gucci, Louis Vuitton of France, F J Benjamin and Sons Duty Free of Singapore, Diane Fries of Hong Kong, Hardy Brothers, Queens Institute of Beauty, Cornelius Furs and Brian Rochford.

Baillieu Knight Frank consultant Greg Clyde-Smith said at the time interest in the centre exceeded all expectations.

He said “some of the tenant companies had sent executive visitors from France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, China, Japan and New Zealand”.

“With the preview opening only two weeks behind us and the official opening at the end of August, the number of people coming into the centre and spending money is beyond all predictions,’’ he said at the time.

Its many restaurants and cafes were popular for many years.

“Apart from the impressive array of outstanding retailers in the fashion and accessories industry, Marina Mirage has a range of stylish food and specialty stores covering a wide spectrum of international and Australian tastes.

“It is seen as a tourist attraction in its own right.’’

Mr Clyde-Smith said the shopping centre set a new benchmark for the city.

“The Marina Mirage will be the Double Bay and the Toorak of the Gold Coast,’’ he said.

“It is the retail nucleus of the Sheraton Mirage Resort in a classic design that substitutes the traditional hotel foyer shopping facilities in a stand-alone world class attraction with lots of marble and brass.’’

Its boutiques and many restaurants, including the famous Fellinis, were hot spots for locals and celebrities for many years.

However, by the late 2010s many of the long-term tenants had left and Covid dealt the centre a significant blow, leading to the revamp plans.