Quentin Tod: No one’s building on Chevron Island, Gold Coast. Here’s why
Developers and investors with so-called ‘towering’ ambitions at a Gold Coast island appear to have a serious case of cold feet when it comes to getting projects off the ground. But that’s about to change.
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DEVELOPERS and investors with so-called ‘towering’ ambitions on the island that is Chevron appear, with one looming exception, to have a serious case of cold feet.
The riverfront suburb has, in the past three years, had eight sites approved for high-rise apartment buildings, structures of between 19 and 46 levels.
There’s yet to be a construction start on any of them.
That’s probably welcome news to many Chevron residents, fearful of losing their haven’s village atmosphere and of an often nightmarish traffic situation becoming even worse.
As the first page of 2019 has popped up on the calendar, the tower drought might be about to be broken by a newcomer to Gold Coast development.
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Melbourne’s Benson Property Group is well and truly out of the marketing gates and taking deposits on a tower planned close to the eastern entrance to Chevron on Stanhill Drive.
Its move north comes as its home market has chilled.
Of course, marketing a Chevron tower and actually building it are entirely different things — a construction start normally is dependent on pre-sales.
The marketing side appears not to have run quite as expected for Benson — it’s on to a third set of sales agents since launching its 40-floor Chevron One, a year ago.
That said, it’s believed to have more than a third of the 247 owner-occupier focused apartments under contract and has shown its confidence by clearing the site.
Rivals sitting in the wings with approved tower sites include another Melbourne group, one from Brisbane, and two Chinese parties.
Two other sites are held by investors who are willing sellers and a third effectively is in no-man’s land — the high-rise plan collapsed.
Interestingly, Gold Coast developers have shown no interest in getting into the Chevron high-rise game, although many years ago Q1 builder the Sunland Group mooted a medium-rise project.
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Such buildings have long succeeded on Chevron — they are quicker to build and easier to fund.
Brisbane’s Marquee Developments Partners late last year launched a nine-level building, Stanhill, and sales have been so bullish that it’s called in the builders
On the high-rise front, things looked like getting cracking more than two years ago until Brisbane’s Citimark group stepped back from launching a 21-floor project.
The most promising signs of a tower start came in 2017 after venerable Melbourne group the Dennis Family Corporation was given the green light for Radiance, a 22-level building.
It was hopeful of moving quickly but caution has prevailed.
Dennis says it is reassessing its plans in light of ‘changing market conditions’ — something which apparently means the Radiance time frame is undecided.
Among the more interesting people sitting on the sidelines with an approved tower are Baron and Tony Li, the sons of Chinese billionaire Riyu Li.
They snared a $3.9 million site in 2015 and brought in Sydney architects to design a 22-level tower but there’s been no sign of action since the building gained council approval.