Matt and Chelsea Gates buy jaw-dropping mansion; Norway’s Mantra coup; new Gold Coast businesses
WHO’S laughing to the bank over the Mantra deal? Which young GC power couple bought a jaw-dropping mansion? Who slid down the rich list? It’s been a bizzy week on the Gold Coast. Catch up here.
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YOUR WEEK IN BUSINESS GOSSIP: ONE of the Coast’s young power couples have made a splash on the Isle of Capri — buying the jaw-dropping mansion featured on the cover of last weekend’s Gold Coast Bulletin Real Estate magazine.
Matt Gates, son of Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, and his wife Chelsea, daughter of Ray White Surfers Paradise CEO Andrew Bell, snapped up the tropical-style home two weeks before it went under the hammer.
Ray White Broadbeach agents Sam Guo and Julia Kuo helped sealed the deal for the loved-up couple.
“They were very picky buyers but they walked into this house and made an offer within minutes,” Mr Guo said.
The pair made an offer to good for the owners to refuse and bought the house on Wednesday.
The pair flaunted their new digs on Instagram this week.
“What a year 2017 has been for us! Can’t wait to share our new home with our loved ones,” Mr Gates wrote. “Love you Chelsea Bell more and more, day by day ... excited for our future.”
SOME bankers in Oslo might well have been wearing satisfied Scandinavian smiles when they heard on Monday that French giant Accor was proposing a major takeover thousands of kilometres away in Australia.
Norges Bank, which manages Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, is a major stakeholder in Mantra, the Surfers Paradise holiday accommodation operator.
Accor, which already has a Gold Coast presence, has signalled that it hopes to make a $3.96 a share bid for Bob East-run Mantra.
That’s lovely for Norges, which just happens to be sitting on nearly 15 million Mantra shares, or just over 5 per cent of the share capital.
The Norwegians first revealed their Mantra buying back in February when they revealed they’d become substantial shareholders.
They’ve floated over and under the 5 per cent mark during the year and their investment’s been ‘out in the cold’ for a lot of the time — the shares haven’t been worth what they paid.
If Accor’s offer goes ahead, things will be gorgeous for Norges — its Mantra buying appears to have been around the $3 mark, or nearly a dollar share below the potential bid.
Oh, and a week ago Norges banked a 6c a share Mantra final dividend.
HELENSVALE brothers Jack and Riley Hotter will fly the flag for the local Gold Coasters at karting’s Race of Stars in more ways than one this weekend.
The pair will compete at the event in a special livery with the backing of the Gold Coast-based Retail Food Group’s Pizza Capers brand.
The hotter the better, we say.
RUSSIAN investor Andrew Karpati has made his first foray into the Gold Coast property market, buying an absolute beachfront site, pre-approved for an apartment tower, at Broadbeach.
Through his Melbourne-based Optimus Developments, Mr Kapati has lodged an amendment to the development approval for the project formerly earmarked for the Astoria on Broadbeach tower to be developed by Reed Property Group.
Optimus plans to start work shortly to clear the ageing apartment building which currently occupies the site for the new project, named 31 Broadbeach.
Mr Karpati appointed global architecture group Woods Bagot and Melbourne-based Carr Design Group to upgrade existing plans for the site.
He said those who’d bought into the former Astoria remained on board.
“Optimus has identified the Gold Coast as the market with the most growth potential in South East Queensland, and the 31 Broadbeach site is a premium offering within the city’s beachfront market,” he said.
“The location and timing is absolutely right for this project, and we are confident buyers will respond to the way we have re-imagined the building to embody a design-driven ethos that is all about genuine coastal chic and six-star luxury.
“A third of apartments have sold prior to any official marketing, meaning we have reached sufficient level of sales to warrant the start of demolition and, pending approval of the modified building design, construction could commence early next year.”
A WATERPROOFING business has poured into Yatala, opening a new depot in the far northern Gold Coast suburb.
Dryman, renowned for its revolutionary proven-on-the-day waterproofing services, recently expanded its services from the Sunshine Coast to northern New South Wales, since being established as BK Waterproofing in 2006, and rebranding to Dryman in 2013.
Brett Fryer followed his father in to the waterproofing game, and along with his wife Kylie, decided to take the plunge by starting their own waterproofing business based on a belief in their products, services, and themselves.
THE boss of Jewel development partner Wanda is no longer China’s richest person, slipping four spots in the country’s Hurun Rich List.
Wang Jianlin slipped to fifth place, with his family’s capital dropping by 28 per cent after Wanda endured funding cuts for the purchase of Hollywood studios Legendary for $US3.5 billion. Government clampdowns on foreign investment have also harmed Wang’s fortunes.
Construction mogul Xu Jiayin topped the list with assets estimated at $US43 billion ($A55 billion).
Xu, the boss of south Chinese corporation Evergrande, saw his wealth expand by $US30 billion in the past six months.
THE unmissable new Smith Street Spine Centre will celebrate the facility’s launch with a soiree on October 20.
The striking new building, at the corner of Kumbari Ave, is new home to reconstructive spinal surgeon, Dr Neil Cleaver, and neurosurgeons Dr Leong Tan and Dr Anna Chang, with South Coast Radiology and Core Healthcare also offering on-site services.
A NEW hair salon has opened in Mermaid Waters.
Stylist Roberta Dzelalija relocated to Queensland earlier this year opening Some Hallucination Hair Australia, a sister salon to Some Hallucination Hair Hobart.
Ms Dzelalija has been hairdressing for 29 years and has employed local stylists for the salon.
The brand hopes to build on the popularity of its Hobart salon, where stylist Scott Trousselot is famed for his work with Australian Fashion Week.
HARBOURSIDE Markets at Biggera Waters, on the revival trail under a new owner, is poised to gain a supermarket.
The 580 sqm store, sporting the name Green Grocer, will open its doors next week.
The markets, across the road from Harbour Town and intended to provide a gourmet-food precinct for the area, opened in 2012 but never fully fired and some stores closed.
A Singaporean investor who owns the adjoining Treasure Cove Super Centre bought Harbourside for $7.25 million late last year and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars refurbishing the 1600 sqm building.
Its only existing tenants are the Pickled Cactus restaurant and the Treehouse cafe.
The supermarket is tipped to be a hit with the multitude of residents who have moved nearby in the past five years as the Emandar group and developer Jim Raptis have built towers housing hundreds of apartments.
QUEENSLAND shopfitter Jayden Wood has won $10,000 and the coveted Australian Shop and Office Fitting Industry Association Phil Boron Memorial Shield.
The Queensland Apprentice of the Year is the 20th recipient of this prestigious award.
Mr Wood credited his teachers at TAFE and mentors at Projects Queensland for the chance to work on projects including Gucci stores in Melbourne and Perth, the Louis Vuitton store in Brisbane and the Abedian School of Architecture at Bond University.
The award ceremony was addressed by Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist Laura Geitz (pictured with Jayden).
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