Gold Coast development: Push to return Paradise Centre land to council

One of the Gold Coast’s most famous shopping centres is set to undergo a multi-million revamp. But an emotional city leader says he wants the land given back to the public.

AN emotional Gary Baildon says he will not rest until the most important piece of public land in Surfers Paradise is returned to ratepayers.

After much lobbying and a closed-door meeting at Evandale, the former Mayor who is in his last term as Surfers Paradise councillor gained the unanimous backing of councillors to reject an offer for a new 30-year lease on Crown land just south of Cavill Mall at the beachfront.

FIRST LOOK AT PARADISE CENTRE UPGRADE

Artist impression of plans for the Paradise Centre frontage in Surfers Paradise.

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The Paradise Centre, which has a 50-year lease which expires in June 2031, is seeking an immediate 30-year extension as it plans an upgrade to its frontage next to the surf club.

“I want this area from the north of the surf club and east of the property (shopping centre) boundary to be returned to the people,” Cr Baildon told the Bulletin.

“My preference would be to see a town square. It would be an area where the public could gather and have concerts and entertainment.

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Gary Baildon got the unanimous support of fellow councillors. Photo: David Clark.

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“I feel very strongly on this. I’m not going to die without that area of land being returned to the people. I think it was a travesty that the land was lost to the people of the Gold Coast so many years ago.

“I have suffered with this for the last 40 years. It was a wrong done, in my view.”

Cr Baildon was a business operator in Surfers Paradise when the original deal was done. He later became Mayor and at 76, returned as area councillor in 2016.

SURFERS PARADISE’S OWN TIMES SQUARE REVEALED

Public land at the front of the Paradise Centre in Surfers Paradise which is leased.

Former Development and Housing Minister Russ Hinze signed off the land, which was parkland, to Eddy Kornhauser, the original developer of the Paradise Centre.

A new council report details an approach from the current lessee in late 2017 about a redevelopment, and concept drawings show updated restaurants and bars.

Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen with Eddie Kornhauser.

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Council officers in their report said HTW Valuers determined the “whole of council land” at the frontage of the Paradise Centre excluding the surf lifesaving club was worth $38 million, and could provide for an annual rent return of $2.28 million.

But given the constraints on the existing lease, the site was downgraded to $7.8 million with annual rental worth $420,000 exclusive of rates.

REMEMBERING THE GOLD COAST’S EARLY ATTRACTIONS

Picture of the eastern (beachside) end of the Paradise Centre in Surfers Paradise. Photo by Richard Gosling

The current annual rent at just more than $26,000 meant there was no pressure to upgrade the site to get strong economic returns.

The lessee had prepared a development proposal but “can only proceed if the current lease is renegotiated”.

Council officers admitted it was a “complex matter”, that the site was a “tired development” but the city was under no compulsion to negotiate the lease.

The original site: Grundy's Waterslide Surfers Paradise.

Councillors voted to refuse the current application but invited the lessee to pursue its redevelopment plans.

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Council must now determine a “vision” for the site with the next councillor playing a critical role in its future after the March 2020 election. The Paradise Centre did not comment by deadline.