Sale of Ocean Isles neighbour may mean less privacy for Main Beach penthouses

THE high life at the Gold Coast’s most exclusive beachfront apartment building is at risk of becoming a little less private.

Main Beach low rise building Poppas, Main Beach, Gold Coast.

THE high life at the Gold Coast’s most exclusive beachfront apartment building is at risk of becoming a little less private.

A 55-year-old low-rise unit block next door to The Ocean Isles at Main Beach has gone on the market at $8 million and seems certain to be eyed by developers.

That’s something the owners of The Ocean Isles’ two penthouses, which have expansive rooftop entertaining areas, might not relish.

Those areas always have been visible, but at a distance from across the street, to residents in high-rises such as Silverpoint and the Norfolk.

Suddenly, because the three-level ‘neighbour’ might be replaced by something that stretches to eight or 10 levels, rooftop life at The Ocean Isles could be exposed to some ‘up close and personal’ observation.

The entertaining areas for the two penthouses long have been intriguing because of their pools — they have glass ‘windows’ built into the ceilings of the bedrooms below.

The neighbouring building that is being sold is called Poppas and it sits on a 617sqm site on the northern boundary of The Ocean Isles.

The $8 million tag Victorian Gary Tomomichel has put tag on Poppas appears aimed at capitalising on the development potential offered by smaller beachfront sites. .

Poppas is on the market as Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page is building an eight-level boutique tower, in which the penthouse has an $11 million tag, along the street.

Nearby, one of the founders of Colliers International, Victorian Bill McHarg, is chasing approval for a 10-level building that also will be laced with luxury.

It’s possible that a developer with similar ambitions could end up with the Poppas site if a building higher than the existing one is feasible.

That is, of course, unless one or more of the five well-heeled owners in The Ocean Isles decides to pay some ‘protection money’ and buy Poppas.

One of the penthouse owners has been in the building since it was completed by receivers 23 years ago and paid $1.675 million.

The other bought the northern penthouse for $5.75 million late last year and has embarked on modifications to the rooftop area.

Poppas seller Gary Tomomichel has had a presence in the low-rise since buying a unit, via company Lyndara, for $750,000 in 2003.

He followed up by buying a second unit for $2.2 million the following year, added a third for $1.4145 million in 2006, and snaffled the final one for $2.118 million last year.

All up, he’s outlaid a little over $6.5 million.

His largesse has enabled one Poppas owner, elderly Brisbane resident Luigi Vidopivec, to take his $2.118 million and move along the street and into the penthouse in the Kapalua tower.