Forise’s Spirit super-tower originally planned for 118 floors

The saga surrounding Chinese company Forise’s shakey Gold Coast super-tower hopes could have been a much taller story, Quentin Tod writes.

THE ‘will it be built or won’t it’ saga surrounding Chinese company Forise’s shakey Gold Coast super-tower ambitions could have been a much taller story.

It’s emerged that the group, which quietly has had the site for its planned Spirit tower on the market, initially wanted to go to 118 levels.

Wiser counsel prevailed and Spirit’s height was lopped back to 89 levels.

The value of the project probably dropped significantly too – by half a billion dollars or so to a more modest $1.2 billion

Forise intended the DBI-designed Spirit to be a flagship project for the ambitious group as it set out to ‘expand to the world’.

Concept art shows the tower rising 300 metres above the Gold Coast. Supplied

The 118-floors idea wasn’t the only one the group mooted and ended up scrubbing.

Early on the basement was going to be 12 levels but this figure eventually was chopped and six levels prepared at a reported cost of around $40 million.

Apartment numbers started out at 693 and the figure shrank to 479.

At one point it was suggested Spirit’s hotel and restaurants should be at the top of the building.

In other words, guests would check in at level 89 and enjoy the best reception area view on the Gold Coast.

Other ideas included high-end food offerings, such as a French fine-dining restaurant and a Belgian chocolatier.

A Forise promotion for Spirit touted that ‘master chefs from different countries will even delicately cook a luxury dining at your tongue’.

It was suggested that an elite Shanghai and Beijing restaurant group would set up shop in Spirit, one called Da Dong which is best known for its duck dishes and which has made the Michelin Shanghai guide.

An aerial of the Spirit development in Surfers Paradise in November. Photo: Supplied.

In the end, it appears Forise is ducking.

The group appears to be a victim of China’s crackdown on capital leaving the country and of a Chinese peer-to-peer lending scandal.

The $65 million Spirit site’s been offered to potential buyers, although there has been a hint that Forise might entertain taking in a development partner.

In November the landlord locked Forise out of the expensive Spirit display suite at the beachfront end of the Paradise Centre.

That happened as Forise chairman Xin Wang was moving to quickly unload his sub-penthouse in the beachfront Soul super-tower in a ‘must be sold’ marketing campaign.

Chairman Xin, by all accounts, is what one consultant has called ‘a heck of a nice guy’ with none of the arrogance that exudes from some wealthy people.

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Plans for the Gold Coast tallest building, Spirit, released by developers Forise Holdings.

An associate says he has a depth of design knowledge, which means he must have had a major role in arriving at the final Spirit design.

That design includes a rooftop infinity pool for the use of apartment dwellers living on level 57 or higher.

The cheapest apartment on level 57 when marketing began was $2.55 million for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.

In other words, a swim wouldn’t come cheap but for a few dollars more a resident could drown their sorrows in a rooftop cocktail bar.