On The QT: Melbourne pub owner plans to develop Main Beach properties into major towers

A Melbourne pub owner who’s hosted the likes of INXS is among those hoping to end the tower lull that’s beset Main Beach for over a decade.

THE tower lull that has beset Main Beach for more than a decade is over and a Melbourne pub owner who’s hosted band INXS is among those aspiring to hit the high notes.

John Carayiannis has owned the Central Club Hotel in Richmond since 1978 and is planning to redevelop the property into a seven-level apartment building.

At the same time he’s laying the groundwork for a 21-storey tower in Main Beach’s Pacific St, a minute’s walk from the ocean.

Hot on the heels of the publican seeking development approval for his tower, Brisbane group Trenert has unveiled its plans for a 32-floor building in nearby Woodroffe Ave.

The wraps have come off the Carayiannis and Trenert projects as construction is about to start on the beachfront surburb’s first apartment tower since Macquarie Bank made an ill-timed start on the XXV high-rise at the start of the GFC.

A drawing of the 32-level tower Brisbane group Trenert wants to build in Woodroffe Avenue.

The Jonathan Drew-linked Cityvest has hired builders to start work on the Cerulean, a 16-floor building in Pacific St.

Four other Main Beach towers have been approved in the past couple of years, three of them in Main Beach Pde, but the site owners show no sign of starting marketing, let alone building.

There’s no indication of when the Carayiannis building might get under way but Trenert apparently is hopeful of breaking ground by September.

The more boutique nature of the two buildings – both have only 28 apartments – means achieving sufficient sales to gain funding will be a lot easier than with much bigger towers.

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The John Carayiannis project is planned on 1012sqm site that’s home to a 12-title low-rise.

John’s no stranger to investment in the suburb – back in 2003 he sold a unit to the developers who built the St Maxime apartments.

Some 40 years ago the Central Club owner was one of the first publicans to have a band playing in a Melbourne hotel.

His patrons have swilled their way through not only sessions with INXS, but also the likes of Men at Work, BB King, and the Chantoozies.

The tower is planned for an 1120sqm lot in Main Beach.

The Trenert tower is earmarked for an 1120sqm Woodroffe Ave site, with half of it being bought from Paul Ng and the rest from real estate agent Mike Willems and wife Dayna.

The holding is part of a near 6000sqm T-shaped site that also had a Cronin Ave frontage and which was marketed by Sydney investors in 2015, apparently with hopes of achieving $30 million or more.

Trenert, a multi-facted property consultancy set up five years ago, might appear to be a newcomer to Gold Coast development but some of its principals know the city well and it’s overseeing 20-floor project 31 Broadbeach for the Optimus group.

Meanwhile, other developers, sensing Main Beach is on the cusp of a development revival, have been sniffing around for sites.

One name that’s cropped up is that of the irrepressible Jim Raptis , whose listed group planned a foray before the GFC, only to lose a site on the western side of Main Beach Pde to receivers.