Godfrey Mantle poised to put former Terranora Golf and Country Club site back on market

One of the biggest sites on the Gold Coast is poised to go on the market, with development approval for more than 1600 residential titles, a 200-bed aged-care home, a private school, and a town centre.

ONE of the most highly visible broadacre sites on the Gold Coast could be poised to come off the mantlepiece, and not for the first time.

Godfrey Mantle, who’s built a restaurant, pub and property empire in the wake of opening the iconic Jimmy’s on the Mall in Brisbane 35 years ago, is believed to be cooking up plans to market a major southern holding.

The Bilambil Heights land, tagged the Rise Gold Coast Highlands, is the former home of the Terranora Golf and Country Club and is close to Cobaki, a 5500-lot estate planned by billionaire developer Bob Ell.

The suggested new selloff move might well be a clearing of the decks before a mooted float of the Mantle hospitality interests, which include Pig ‘N’ Whistle pubs.

The site of the former Terranora Golf and Country Club is poised to go back on the market.

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The elevated and rolling Rise site was bought by Godfrey and wife Jenny from liquidators to the club for $4.8 million 22 years ago and at one time was mooted for an ultra upmarket resort.

The 187ha holding has been marketed at least twice in the past few years, with a Chinese buyer apparently showing serious intent, which eventually waned.

The Bombay-born Godfrey always has had big ambitions for the land.

Little more than a year after it was bought, Tweed Shire approval was gained for a $500 million golf resort.

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The Mantle development ‘recipe’ included a 400-suite strata title hotel, more than 500 villas, tennis courts, cinemas and a 27-hole Graham Marsh-designed golf course.

By early in the new millennium the Mantle plan had escalated to a $1 billion resort to be known as the Sheraton Grande St Michaels All Presidential Suite Gold and Spa Resort.

What was billed as the world’s first ‘all presidential suite’ hotel was to have 148 suites with multiple individual plunge pools, elevated spas, and baby grand pianos.

The three-storey hotel was to be adjacent to a private presidential palace and a precinct with another 144 presidential suites with access to 5000sqm of swimming pools and a 3500sqm spa.

Godfrey Mantle in front of Jimmy’s in the Mall in Brisbane.

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The grandest of plans came to nothing and a few years later a masterplan was approved that would enable the creation of a Mediterranean-inspired hilltop community in which nearly 90 per cent of the homes and villas would have ocean views.

An effort was made in 2014 to sell the land – Godfrey wasn’t about to spell out an asking price but did say he was happy to take offers – and again in 2016.

If it does, as expected, return to the market again, the sales blurb probably will canvas the land’s panoramic views from Surfers Paradise to Byron Bay.

It surely also will trumpet the development approval for more than 1600 residential titles, a 200-bed aged-care home, a private school, and a town centre.

Meanwhile, homework’s being done on a potential mid-year float of the Mantle hospitality assets, which include 14 pubs and other outlets across Brisbane.

A $48 million attempt by Honkers billionaire Tony Fung to buy the Equinox apartment tower at the northern end of Surfers Paradise to enlarge an adjoining hotel site is very much alive.

A party to the bid says by far the majority of owners want to sell, which indicates the 37 units owned by Dr John Knight’s Medi-Aid Foundation must be ‘buyable’.

There’s apparently some chin-waging going on with a handful of owners who are what’s termed ‘reticent’.

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JOHN Symond, the genial founder of Aussie Home Loans, reportedly has been doing a spot of home searching on the beachfront at Mermaid Beach.

Should John find a property that tickles his fancy, it won’t compete value-wise with his Point Piper mansion in Sydney, for which he knocked back a $100 million-plus offer in 2017.

James Symond, a nephew of the $600 million man, is an owner in Main Beach’s Silverpoint tower and late last year spent $5.5 million on seven Tedder Ave shops.

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THE Marriott chain is believed to be the mystery group in the wings to run a new hotel mooted next to its 32-level Surfers Paradise hotel.

The owner of a Budds Beach site is marketing her property as a possible home to a 20-level hotel, with a memorandum of understanding in place with an ‘international’ hotel operator and with Multiplex ready for a joint-venture role.

The hotel would add 200 rooms to its Marriott’s existing offerings to guests.