Doctor in the highrises holds all the aces
GIVEN that the amalgamation of older highrises close to the beach is in vogue in Surfers Paradise, it might be time for an enterprising property type to go for the doctor.
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GIVEN that the amalgamation of older highrises close to the beach is in vogue in Surfers Paradise, it might be time for an enterprising property type to go for the doctor.
The “doctor” in this case is John Knight, a fellow who today is in his late 80s and who became known nationwide as TV medico Dr James Wright.
The genial fellow just happens to control more than a third of the units in the Equinox Sun Resort, which sits on a site ripe for redevelopment.
The 36 units are held by the Knight-founded Medi-Aid Centre Foundation, a non-profit charity, and company Knight and Thornleigh Investments.
The Equinox is located in what might be termed a beachfront activity hot spot – at the northern end of Surfers where Singapore’s Banyan Tree has assembled a $50 million site.
To the north, billionaire Tony Fung has visions of a six-star hotel rising where the Pacific Point tower, two doors north of Equinox, sits.
The Equinox which, like Pacific Point, is at the southern end of Main Beach Pde, is a near 40-year-old tower that has 101 apartments over 16 levels. The big attraction for a developer would be the 4044sqm site it occupies.
The ownership register, apart from the Knight holdings, is wide open and prices in the tower have been modest.
In fact, Dr John’s Medi-Aid has paid the highest price of any of the present Equinox owners – $370,000.
Medi-Aid first bought in the building 17 years ago and its cheapest apartment cost $110,000.
The Medi-Aid apartments, among 186 that the charity owns in buildings around Surfers Paradise, are rented at heavily discounted rates to elderly people who face financial hardship.
Any developer with a conscience who is eyeing Equinox might worry about putting the tenants of the 36 apartments on the street.
They might also be wary of a solid knockback from the doc.
In that context, Dr John and Medi-Aid, when there is a decent profit to be made, have not had qualms about cashing in, reinvesting in other apartments, and resettling tenants.
For example, when the irrepressible Jim Raptis was trying to amalgamate The Sands and Iluka buildings in Surfers Paradise before the global financial crisis, Medi-Aid was targeted.
Four units in The Sands, which cost the charity a total of $541,000, were sold to a Raptis entity for $1.276 million.
Dr John is well versed when it comes to dealing with developers – even the biggest of them.
In 2013 he sold a property in North Sydney for $20.5 million to highrise king, and Australia’s wealthiest man in 2016, Harry Triguboff.
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