Gold Coast development: Sembawang Wavebreak Island resort and cruise ship terminal’s failure
This $4.9bn mega development was touted as the “saviour of the Gold Coast” but it was torpedoed before it even got off the ground. This is the inside story of what went wrong
Gold Coast
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YEARS change but the desire to redevelop parts of The Spit remain the same.
For more than 30 years, developers have wanted to make their mark on the peninsular.
In recent weeks steps have been taken from two different players for different parts of The Spit to be transformed.
Developer Tim Gordon, of Gordon Corp, filed a development application to convert the dilapidated former Golden Door spa next to the Sheraton Grand Mirage into a shopfront believed to be a sales centre for his proposed Village Centre, a $100m, three-storey luxury residential precinct next to Mariner’s Cove.
The Golden Door site itself will be razed and replaced by a resort. Its final developer is unknown.
Meanwhile, a native title claim was lodged with the Federal Court by the Kombumerri-NgarangWal Saltwater People “reaffirming our legitimate rights to our land, the resident traditional owners of the broader Gold Coast lands and waterways at the southern end of Quandamooka Country’’.
The native title claims were signed by senior elder David Dillon and Anthony Dillon, on behalf of the traditional owner families, with plans to turn it into a resort and possibly a second casino for the city.
It calls for a review of The Spit masterplan, which it says lacks vision, integrity and respect.
The new proposal also includes provision for a cable car.
Dubbed indigenomics, the plan is to create a consortium and make the Kombumerri NgarangWal Saltwater people self-sufficient by using The Spit for their own commercial purposes.
The claim remains before the courts.
This week marks 10 years since one of the most controversial redevelopment plans for the Broadwater was unveiled.
In late July 2012, as the London Olympic Games began, Singapore developer Sembawang put forward plans for a $4.9bn cruise ship terminal and resort development on Wavebreak Island.
Under those plans, the terminal was to be capable of docking two 300m luxury ships, or up to four smaller vessels.
A new artificial island was to be built next to Wavebreak to house the bulk of the masterplanned residential and tourist community.
Beyond a six-star, 1500-room resort, the precinct was to include a casino, an aquarium, shops, a theatre, cultural centre and commercial space.
Boaties would have been able to pull up to a 400-berth marina and there would have been berths for up to 12 superyachts, with a bridge built from the mainland to the islands, giving people without boats access to Wavebreak for the first time.
The company’s chief executive, Ric Grosvenor, dubbed the project the “resurrection of the Gold Coast”.
“If it’s positive then we’ll move forward … if the public is generally against it, we move on,’’ he said.
“This city has changed so dramatically since Japanese tourism fell away. It’s a ghost town.
“We need to inject hope. It would be crazy not to do it now.’’
He said the Gold Coast was chosen because it was the ``gateway to Australia’’, and seen internationally as a safe and desirable destination.
``We’re bringing in funds locally, nationally and internationally,’’ Mr Grosvenor said.
But the project copped significant criticism from locals and Mayor Tate, who would not back a casino on the site.
It was a surprise turn of events from Mr Tate, who had been elected just three months earlier on the back of a campaign promise to build a cruise ship terminal and calls for another casino.
The state government of then-premier Campbell Newman was also uneasy about the proposal.
But Mr Grosvenor was undeterred and said he was prepared to slap $250m on Mr Newman’s desk to prove his proposal was no joke and to stop what he describes as ‘‘powerful forces’’ snuffing it out.
He said the money would be given to the state government as a bond if his ambitious plan for a super resort, casino and cruise ship terminal on Wavebreak Island was approved.
The money, he said, would be forfeit if Sembawang breached any conditions set down by the government, such as deadlines or environmental protections.
Mr Grosvenor said it was an unusual step, but it had to be taken because there were ‘‘big players’’ in the gaming and casino industry who were acting out of the public’s view to stop Wavebreak from going ahead.
‘‘There are other big players in Australia that would like to see the casino option erased knowing it would sink the project, knowing it would further their own ends,’’ he said. ‘‘There are powerful forces at work that would like to see a monopolistic throttle hold on gaming in Australia.’’
The move still failed to build any political will for the project and Sembawang pulled out of the Gold Coast market a handful of weeks later.
Several further proposals to redevelop The Spit and Wavebreak Island have been floated in the past decade but none have gained the necessary political support to proceed.
‘Dilapidated’ beachfront gym to become luxury resort
THE Gold Coast’s most famous gym will be gutted and redeveloped into a resort by one of the city’s most prominent developers, bringing down the curtain on a history dating back to the booming 1980s.
Tim Gordon, of Gordon Corporation, has taken control of the “dilapidated” Christopher Skase-built Golden Door gym on Sea World Drive at The Spit.
The Spit’s last designated beachfront development site is expected to become a major new resort, in plans for the property flagged by the state government at the end of last year.
But first it will be turned into an unspecified “shop”.
Plans filed with the Gold Coast City Council by Gordon Corporation reveal the gym facilities will be removed in coming months.
“The proposal seeks predominantly internal works, removing the internal walls and fixtures of the previous indoor recreation gymnasium and internal fit-out for the space to be tenanted as a shop which will comprise the display and selling of goods,” a planning report on the project reads.
“The proposal also includes minor external works, gentrifying the dated facade and building … including modern screening, reglazing, landscaping, parapet extension and the like.
“The proposal is considered the interim use of the site ahead of more comprehensive and wholistic redevelopment of the site which is expected to occur in the future.”
The report described the building as “vacant and dilapidated”.
Mr Gordon declined to comment when approached by the Bulletin this week citing a confidentiality agreement regarding the site.
The site after was put on the market in late 2021, with its ultimate owner yet to be chosen.
Under the Spit Master Plan, the Golden Door site will become “Village East Resort”.
“The master plan reimagines this site as a resort-style complex with a public plaza flowing from SeaWorld Drive to the ocean and the public carpark moving south into Hollingdale Park,” Deputy Premier Steven Miles said in late 2021.
CBRE Hotels National Director Wayne Bunz, who marketed the site for the state government, described it as “the best beachfront resort accommodation site that has come to the market in the past two decades”.
City Planning boss Cr Cameron Caldwell welcomed the project.
“The Spit is in the midst of a transformation and this project will be a key piece of the puzzle,” he said.
“There are a range of new developments which are planned for this area and will bring a much-needed revival, while keeping within the parameters of The Spit Master Plan.
“Council looks forward to seeing the long-term plans for this key site come to fruition.”
The Golden Door building sits on Crown land.
It was built in 1987 by Skase’s Qintex Group alongside Marina Mirage and the Sheraton.
Through the 1990s and early 2000s it was regarded as the city’s leading gym, having state-of-the-art facilities and attracting celebrities and some well-known residents.
Among them were Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former world No. 1 tennis player Steffi Graff, George Clooney and Kate Hudson.
Clooney, who played basketball there when he visited in June 1997, praised the facilities while working out: “I have to watch my body.”
In 2001 it was taken over by listed Malaysian giant Lasseters International Holdings but it repeatedly tried to sell its lease on the property during the past decade.
Gordon Corporation’s last year secured support from the state government to redevelop a site next to Mariner’s Cove to create Village Centre, a $100m, three-storey luxury residential precinct.
It will have 30 residential units and is expected to have a maximum of 75 permanent residents in a mixture of two, three and four-beroom units.
Features include a giant rooftop pool, 64-berth dock for vessels including superyachts and a marina lounge with 1154 sqm of dining and 289 sqm of retail.
Construction is expected to begin in late 2023 and completed in 2024.
The project is expected to create more than 300 jobs during construction and 100 jobs once fully operational
Construction is also under way at Marina Mirage where the La Luna Beach Club is taking shape.
The giant Mediterranean-inspired beach club will float between boat docks at Marina Mirage at Main Beach.
Pitched by the Gennari Group it will feature a 120-seat restaurant soon and has been described as “Mykonos St Tropez luxury meets bohemian”.
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