Gold Coast development: 10 biggest projects revealed in 2020

The developer behind a giant $1.5 billion mega suburb planned for the Gold Coast has revealed when work will begin on the project as we count down the 10 biggest developments this year.

THE COVID-19 recession failed to halt the Gold Coast development industry in 2020.

In fact, building and construction actually surged, with billions of dollars in towers, new suburbs and even mini cities approved or broke ground.

Buoyed by strong sales figures and signs of a significant interstate migration bullish developers are hitting the green light on a raft of major projects to cope with the huge increase in population.

Here are 10 of the biggest projects to make news this year.

PACIFIC VIEW ESTATE

The Gold Coast City Council approved this $1.5 billion “mega suburb” in December, just six months after the development application was filed.

Developer Perron Group and joint venture partner Ross Atkins plan to finally move ahead with the long proposed Pacific View Estate earmarked for a 342ha site between Highland Park and Worongary.

Perron Group general manager Land Development, Lyle Kenny, said he expects to start earthworks early in 2021.

“We are excited to get the go ahead from Council on the initial stage of the project and see this as a major vote of confidence in the outlook for the Gold Coast,” he said.

Aerial of the planned Pacific View Estate site.

“It will be a high-quality residential estate with home sites within initial stages to range in size from 240 sqm to 695 sqm to suit a diverse range of household needs and budgets. In addition open space and landscaped parks will feature within the estate, promoting an active and healthy Gold Coast lifestyle.”

“The initial release will also include the Gold Coast’s latest display village comprising some 30 homes from a range of builders.”

PACIFIC CITY

The Gold Coast’s northern cane fields will be transformed into a 60,000-home city as part of a secret proposal put forward by 71 Norwell landowners in May.

The Norwell Valley Consortium asked for developer expressions of interest to build Pacific City on 4975ha of green heartland.

An international expression-of-interest campaign has also been planned through leading property firm Colliers.

According to the pitch document completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific City represents “an unprecedented opportunity to develop a potential new city in a bayside location fronting the pristine water of Moreton Bay”.

Under the plans, Pacific City would feature:

* A “significant city centre” and employment precincts as well as “sustainable ecological and tourism-based outcomes”.

* The potential for up to 60,000 dwellings, based on the preliminary masterplan.

* The masterplan proposes six precincts – employment, north, central, south, transit-oriented and flood/vegetation.

* The planned Coomera connector would run through the western fringes of the city, providing a major transport link, while the Ormeau Railway station and M1 would be just 1km and 4km respectively away from the centre of the development.

FLOW

Ground broke in early December on this $74 million project which proved to be a surprise sales hit in 2020.

Artist impression of the Flow Residences at Rainbow Bay.

The first sod was turned less than a month after the southern Gold Coast tower sold out in a COVID-inspired spending spree.

The tower is expected to open in March 2022, with the building works set to create more than 200 jobs in the meantime.

The final $3.15 million unit at Rainbow Bay’s 13-storey Flow Residences sold less than 12 weeks after the project was put to the market.

The luxury three-bedroom, half-floor “oceanic” apartment overlooks Snapper Rocks and came on top of $70 million in sales recorded during the first two months of the campaign.

MONACO

The Gold Coast City Council approved this controversial Main Beach tower in August despite a last-minute appeal from nearby residents.

Its approval came after a revamped development application was filed with council, with the project to feature eight half-floor villas plus, 16 full-floor units with 360-degree views and a double-storey penthouse.

The tower is planned for a site on Main Beach’s Macarthur Parade and is pitched as featuring the southern hemisphere’s first car lift and “sky garages”.

Sky garage at planned Main Beach tower development

But it has long been opposed by the Main Beach Association which argued it would set a precedent for similar towers blocking the view of luxury apartments built 30 years ago.

They argued the inclusion of sky garages would also prove a serious fire hazard.

THE LANES

Sunland Group in October filed revamped $82 million plans for The Lanes shopping centre at Clear Island Waters.

The retail precinct at Clear Island Waters was redesigned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to better suit public tastes.

The Lanes will have 7000 sqm of retail laneways interwoven with a fresh food market hall, cafes, restaurants, a health and wellbeing precinct and a lakeside community green.

GOLD COAST DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL SERIES

PART ONE: GOLD COAST’S 10 BIGGEST PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

PART TWO: GOLD COAST’S 10 BIGGEST PROJECTS YET TO START

PART THREE: GOLD COAST’S 10 MOST CONTROVERSIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Under the original $200 million 2017 proposal, the project would have featured 17,000 sqm of retail space and urban laneways.

Planning documents reveal the project’s design was inspired by that of European cities as well as Palm Springs in California.

COSTCO

Artist's impressions of the 13,620 sqm Costco Wholesale Warehouse and Costco service station - it will be the first and only Costco on the Gold Coast.

Warehouse retailer Costco in August filed a development application with the Gold Coast City Council to build a warehouse on a 13,620 sqm site at Westfield’s Coomera Town Centre.

The retail giant, which already has one outlet in north Brisbane and another in Ipswich, has entered an agreement with Scentre Group and Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to start construction of a warehouse and petrol station complex in early 2021.

The project is expected to create 330 full-time and part-time positions through both the construction period and once it opens.

It will come with a 750-bay car park.

THE MONDRIAN

Accommodation providers Accor and SBE will build Australia’s first Mondrian hotel on the Gold Coast as part of a dramatic expansion of its holdings across the world.

Doors are expected to open at the Burleigh towers in mid-2023 after a two-year construction period.

FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $5 A MONTH FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS

Mondrian Gold Coast will be a 22-storey twin-tower development planned for the White Horses site on the corer of First Ave and The Esplanade and will feature 208 hotel rooms and 89 luxury residential units.

It will be the Coast’s first new five-star luxury hotel since Palazzo Versace opened in September, 2000.

EARLE PLAZA

A giant nine-screen cinema will be at the heart of a $30 million redevelopment of an ageing Gold Coast shopping centre.

Geon Property, on behalf of Cinemark, in April plans to the Gold Coast City Council to revamp and expand the Earle Plaza complex at Nerang and transform it into a modern shopping mecca.

According to the plans, the new centre will feature:

* A nine-screen cinema, expanding from the existing four theatres.

* More than 12 new retail and food outlets.

* New medical tenancies.

* A health and fitness gym.

* Improved amenities.

NATURA

Construction work began in late 2020 on the new $77 million Burleigh Heads tower Natura which also proved a major sales success despite the pandemic.

More than $50 million worth of units were sold in a single weekend in early March.

About 70 per cent of those who bought into the 17-storey project off the plan were downsizers from the Gold Coast region.

The tower is earmarked for a 1011 sqm site on The Esplanade and will replace the now-demolished Aspect on Burleigh, a 13-year-old mid-rise launched by Mimi MacPherson.

IMPERIAL SQUARE

This $2.3 billion project, which will include one of the world’s tallest residential towers, may finally break ground in 2021 after developer Robert Badalotti declared in June 2020 that “the time was right” for the work to finally move forward.

Artist impressions of Imperial Square, a Southport development which will have a 108-storey supertower, the world's tallest residential tower, at its heart.

An October construction date was tipped but work is still yet to begin.

The four-tower Imperial Square complex, with a 108-storey supertower at its heart, is planned to transform a central Southport site and create more than 3000 jobs during its construction phase alone.

Construction may finally begin in 2021.

To be built in four stages, it will include:

* The 18-level Regal Residences, which will have 145 apartments including two rooftop penthouses, and a four and a half star hotel with 200 suites.

* The 48-level Monarch Place.

* The 68-level Imperial Tower.

* The Majesty, a 108-level supertower which will become one of the world’s tallest towers.