Gold Coast development: Calls for State Government to reject $30m Paradise Centre expansion

A last-ditch bid to save “paradise” and halt a 30-year lease extension to an eyesore Surfers Paradise beachfront mall is being mounted.

A last-ditch bid to save “paradise” and halt council’s 30-year lease extension to an eyesore Surfers Paradise beachfront mall is being mounted with the State Government.

Surfers Paradise businessman Billy James is appealing to the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to step in and reverse a Gold Coast City Council decision to extend the Paradise Centre lease.

Artist impression of the proposed redevelopment of the Paradise Centre in Surfers Paradise

Paradise Centre: 40 years since Surfers Paradise shopping centre opened

Owner Challenger Group was granted the new 30-year lease for its eyesore beachfront mall on condition it carries out a $30 million redevelopment.

But the Crown co-owns the land with the council and it would revert to the city’s control in 2031 if the lease extension was blocked.

State Government can still step in and decide whether or not to ratify the extension voted for by the majority of council, it can be revealed.

Gold Coast cinemas: Five closed theatres from Mermaid Beach to Surfers Paradise

The old Grundy’s area fell into disrepair. Picture Glenn Hampson

Councillors controversially voted for the extension in October despite vocal critics – and the council 18 months earlier rejected an extension.

Mr James, pushing for a giant public plaza instead, said the Palaszczuk Government had a chance to save the area.

“(By going to the State Government) it gives the opportunity for some lateral thought and some wider more experienced thinking,” he said.

Grundy’s Surfers Paradise: Famous slides in 1980s to slum mall front

Surfers Paradise identity Billy James. Picture: Ryan Keen

“We need some wisdom and let’s hope the State Government has some long-term wisdom to look rather than just say they have it so let’s continue.

“It is what used to be the heart of the city. It’s an opportunity to do something world-class.

25 images: Paradise Centre’s bold new look

VIEW GALLERY

Once you pull out the heart of the city you have a problem.”

Challenger Group have revealed approved plans for a $30 million, two-year upgrade. It see transform the existing rundown areas into a public plaza with a “world-class” dining precinct.

The centre’s revamp would feature a new restaurant precinct.

In October’s vote, a majority of councillors defied last-minute pleas from Surfers Paradise businesses owners and the area’s own councillor Darren Taylor to reject the lease extension.

Critics wanted it to be left to expire in 2031.

Instead council voted to grant Challenger Group a new 30-year lease which must be drawn up by February 28 and will expire in 2050.

Cr Taylor said of State Government’s being able to intervene: “It must be ratified and approved by the state and it is up to them to make a decision.

Cr Darren Taylor. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Either way, if it goes ahead it will be an improvement for Surfers Paradise but if it doesn't it would give us a chance to revisit it at long last.

“What we really need to do is get investment back into Surfers Paradise.”

Five councillors voted against the lease extension – Cr Taylor, Peter Young, Brooke Patterson, Mark Hammel and Daphne McDonald.

The Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce and retired councillor Gary Baildon also opposed a new long lease.

FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $5 A MONTH FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS

The project received council approval in 2020.

To honour the deal, the centre must be demolished and work begun on a new public plaza and dining precinct within a year of the new lease being signed.

Challenger has two years to finish the project and is required to give the precinct a facelift every 10 years.

Council’s rent will dramatically increase from $26,000 to $420,000 annually.

Artist impression of the Surfers Paradise Surf Club's alternative proposal for the Surfers Paradise foreshore at the Paradise Centre.

The future of the Paradise Centre has been a hot issue, given its location fronting the Cavill Ave Mall and “run-down” state.

It once played an important part of the Gold Coast tourism experience, especially for families, and included the popular Grundy’s water slides.

A Department of Resources spokeswoman said the council could enter into a lease without state approval providing it was consistent with the purposes of its original deed of trust.