Gold Coast’s Orchid Ave site for hotel goes on the market

ASIAN investors with an unsatisfied appetite for hotels are being offered the chance to build their own in the heart of the Surfers Paradise night-life precinct.

The Grand Gold Coast Tower proposed for 21 Orchid Ave at Surfers Paradise.

ASIAN investors with an unsatisfied appetite for hotels are being offered the chance to build their own in the heart of the Surfers Paradise night-life precinct.

The owner of an Orchid Avenue property approved last year for a 27-level hotel is putting it on the market in response to constant “knocks on the door’’ from would-be buyers.

The Grand Gold Coast tower is intended to have southeast Queensland’s only rooftop pool bar, sitting 27 levels above the street and with ocean views.

An artist’s impression of the 27-storey tower previously proposed for the Orchid Ave site.

The hotel, designed by the Gold Coast’s DBI group and described as “sophisticated’’, will have 270 suites and a 4.5-star rating.

It is approved for a 949sqm former nightclub site at 21 Orchid Ave that is owned by Grand Orchid 21.

The company submitted its hotel plans to the council in May, and they were approved in November.

The principals behind Grand Orchid also are involved in the 47-level Grand Central Hotel planned in Southport’s Scarborough St.

Grand Orchid director Wayne Roddenby, a Newcastle lawyer, yesterday said the company had no idea when it embarked on its Surfers investment in 2015 that Asian buyers were bereft of options when it came to buying Gold Coast hotels.

“The last few years have seen several properties sold, including Vibe, the Marriott, the Crowne Plaza, the Sheraton Mirage and Palazzo Versace.

“The cupboard’s bare so buyers, especially Chinese, are looking at other options.

An artist’s impression of the 27-storey tower previously proposed for the Orchid Ave site.

“We are quite happy to build the Grand Gold Coast ourselves but we’ll willingly step aside if the vibrant interest for the site translates into an acceptable offer.”

Mr Roddenby said the hotel could be built within a 20-month time frame and an analyst had said it could net close to $12 million, before tax and depreciation, in its first full year, based on a

72 per cent occupancy rate.

The last new hotel built on the Gold Coast was the Hilton, which was completed in 2011 and is on the western side of Orchid Ave.

The Grand Central’s rooftop terrace, as well as a having a pool and bar, would include a day club, lounge and spa.

The tower, serviced by four lifts, would include communal and recreation areas on levels three and 25, a porte cochere with valet parking, a full-floor restaurant, and three levels of basement parking.

The restaurant would include a bar with large balcony fronting Orchid Ave.

Grand Orchid bought its Orchid Ave property in December 2015 from investor Elvio Pugliese in a transaction that involved interstate apartments and $8.8 million in cash.

The Grand Orchid site is being marketed by Greg Bell and Steven King, of Ray White Commercial; via a tender campaign that closes on February 23.