Ann Wason Moore: Waiting for Southport to find its 'it factor'

‘Sopo’ has the looks, it has the business, it has the people – but it just doesn’t have ‘it’. Here’s why.

SOUTHPORT is the unsolvable suburb.

It has the looks, it has the business, it has the people – but it just doesn’t have “it”.

What other reason can explain why you can buy a decent house in the centre of the 4215 suburb for $500k, whereas the same accommodation further south would be north of $800k?

If anything, Southport – or “Sopo” as the young ones call it – boasts more amenities and attractions: restaurants, night-life, public transportation hubs, employment opportunities, plenty of waterfront and health facilities.

I’ve lived, worked and invested in Southport and every single year I think this is its time to boom.

And every single year, it just limps along.

Artist impression of retirement village planned for Old Gold Coast Hospital site as part of the Queen Street Village development in Southport. Picture: Supplied.

A very modest townhouse we bought there is worth not much more now than it was on its purchase date 13 years ago. I just don’t understand it. Even the Commonwealth Games – which, admittedly, were improbably promised to solve the city’s every ailment – seemed to subdue local interest.

The median house price for the suburb has flatlined at the mid-$500,000s for years. Meanwhile, Southport units recorded the highest rate of vendor discounting last year.

When it comes to Miami and Palm Beach, I hate to sound like a know-it-all, but I saw that boom coming from a mile away. (Actually a mile … I live in Mermaid). The position, the population, the culture … “it” was inevitable. And I smugly watched as renovator’s dreams became financial nightmares – old cottages on dry blocks climbing from $500k to $600k to $700k in a matter of months.

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But whereas 1+1 = $1 million down south, in Southport the same equation comes to nought. Literally.

Which is why I’m super excited that work is finally starting on the Queen Street Village project, the $550 million masterplanned residential hub on the site of the former Gold Coast Hospital.

The village, featuring a proposed seven towers ranging in height from 16 to 25 storeys, will also include a retirement facility, theatre, health care services, food and drink outlets along with a showroom and offices. It will be developed over the next six to eight years on the site bound by Queen, Nerang and Little High streets in Southport by Brisbane-based developer Property Solutions.

Southport units recorded the highest rate of vendor discounting last year. Picture: Supplied.

If you drive past the 3.2ha site today, you can see the big machinery is on the move – eight years after the hospital closed its doors to, the redevelopment is really happening.

From patients to impatience, surely, finally, this must be Sopo’s time to shine?

It’s not like there’s a lack of demand. In fact the suburb’s population is forecast to more than double to 80,000-plus in about 20 years.

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Meanwhile, demographer Bernard Salt, when crunching the figures at the 2019 Future Tourism event in Brisbane, found the Gold Coast’s old commercial heart had the second highest number of new jobs in the last census, more even than Brisbane city.

The Southport electoral district accounted for 16.5 per cent of all jobs on the Gold Coast, with 38,507 employed in the business centre.

It’s not like I’m the only one to see Sopo’s potential either. A priority development plan was introduced in late 2013 which includes the former hospital site and takes in the aquatic centre,

From patients to impatience, surely, finally, this must be Sopo’s time to shine? Picture: Supplied.

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Broadwater Parklands and housing north of Queen St.

In the past two years, there has been a 40 per cent increase in retail trade floor space, 65 per cent boost in premises open after 7pm, and 1512 new dwellings approved to be built.

Even light rail patronage has increased by 13.6 per cent, with Southport station average day boardings increasing from 2248 in 2014-15 to 2554 in 2016-17.

The people are clearly coming to the old CBD, they’re just not paying top dollar to live there. Yet.

To every millennial struggling to get on the property ladder, go take a look at Sopo. Get in now before the secret is finally out. The unsolvable suburb could possibly be your own property solution.

And if you’re interested in a townhouse, DM me.

Just kidding, I’m waiting for the boom. Any decade now …