Gold Coast development: Deal to sell popular Cav’s Steakhouse site to developer for tower
One of the Gold Coast’s most popular steakhouses will be sold to a developer under a new deal, amid plans to build a luxury tower on the site.
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A DEAL looks to have has been cooked up that will see the site that holds Labrador’s landmark Cav’s Steakhouse sold to a developer who will deliver a long-mooted apartment tower, with a new Cav’s at its base.
The out-of-town developer apparently has entered into what one observer calls a ‘beefy’ deal with Cav’s owner Richard Cavill, one that includes the land but not the kitchen sink.
The upshot is that the 36-year-old Cav’s is likely to close in three months or so and a tower called Inspire could be under way by mid-year.
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The start on the project will bring to an end a mini-saga that started after Richard announced plans for Inspire in 2016, with a developer in tow at the time as a partner.
The new owner of the tower project apparently will stick with the building’s design but add some internal ‘inspiration’.
The plan is to upgrade the fit-out and finishes, moving them forward from 2016 levels to those of 2020.
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Inspire, designed by Mark Urquhart of TVS Architects, is to be 13 levels and have 79 apartments.
It appears the project’s new owner will inherit pre-sales for half of the apartments.
A retail-commercial area at ground level is believed to by 80 per cent taken, with tenants that include Cav’s operator Richard.
He’s planning a 300 sqm Cav’s Emporium which has been flagged as the first of its kind in Australia.
Back in 2016, when Richard put Inspire on the Gold Coast development menu, he and his then project partner achieved sizzling early sales.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough sizzle for the banks, who were cowering away from lending on the Gold Coast.
It appears the restaurateur then went through costly ‘dances’ with a Gold Coast construction company and a Sydney marketing group as he battled to get the development under way.
All looked back on track when West Australian group Pindan showed up and expressed interest in the project but never went any further, perhaps fortuitously – it last year was taken over by a minority shareholder from Singapore after failing to meet performance targets.
At the end of the day, Richard appears to have acknowledged that he’s better cooking steaks than developing property and been happy for a fully-fledged developer to take the tower project off his plate.
The existing buyers in Inspire probably will feel chuffed over what today appears to be on the boil – they bought when prices were in the $374,000 to nearly $800,000 bracket.
New arrivals are likely to pay more, given a rise in building costs and upgraded finishes.
Meanwhile, customers of Cav’s can rest assured that two fibreglass cows that have been sitting by the roadside at Cav’s for more than 35 years haven’t been given the chop.
They’ll stand inside the door of the new emporium, which is intended to have an expanded Cav’s butchery, a smokehouse, and a burger house.
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