Palm Beach tower: Ryan Stokes plans nine-storey luxury unit development

Plans have been revealed for a high-end Palm Beach tower on a site bought by a media and investment mogul just one month ago. SEE THE PLANS >>>

• ‘Being built by stealth’: Anger over developer’s record height plan
• New video: Detailed view of light rail line to Burleigh

MEDIA and investment mogul Ryan Stokes paid $4.625m for a four-bedroom pad in Palm Beach last month.

He now wants to knock it down and build a nine-storey, high-end tower on a dual Jefferson Lane site.

The managing director and CEO of Seven Group Holdings – and son of billionaire Kerry Stokes – has already lodged plans for Akuna with the Gold Coast City Council.

PRIVATE BEACH CLUB TO BE BUILT IN NEW PALM BEACH TOWER

Artist impression of Akuna, a beachfront tower proposed by media and investment mogul Ryan Stokes for Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.

FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $1 A WEEK FOR FIRST 12 WEEKS

Mr Stokes bought the tri-level home at 39 Jefferson Lane in June, five years after forking out $3.375m for a neighbouring site.

The tower on the merged 814sq m site will include nine three-bedroom units and four four-bedroom units.

Artist impression of Akuna, a beachfront tower proposed by media and investment mogul Ryan Stokes for Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.

The project’s design is inspired by the surf, according to its architects.

“The building presents a high-quality architectural outcome inclusive of subtropical design excellence,” a planning report on the project reads.

“The architectural design has drawn inspiration from its beachside setting and is articulated with a series of balconies and facade breaks to develop an architectural language that speaks to the origin of the development’s name, Akuna, meaning flowing water.”

The tower, which will exit on to Third Ave, will be close to the future route of the light rail.

Gold Coast development: Council approves 14-storey Palm Beach tower named for Ernest Hemingway

Artist impression of Akuna, a beachfront tower proposed by media and investment mogul Ryan Stokes for Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast development: $80M in sales on Palm Beach tower, with units selling $300k above listed price

Mr Stokes is also a director of WesTrac; chairman of Coates Hire; director of Beach Energy, and director of Seven West Media, as well as CEO of Australian Capital Equity and a member of various national boards.

The Palm Beach forays are not the first on the Coast for Mr Stokes, who paid $1.2m for an apartment in Main Beach’s Silverpoint building in 2016.

39 Jefferson Lane, Palm Beach.

Gold Coast development: Full list of high-rise tower projects suburb by suburb

The latest Palm Beach property had not been offered for sale in more than 35 years; last changed hands for $255,000 in 1986.

It was sold by company JPS Investments, which is directed by Scott and Paul Barber, of Brisbane, and owned by Robert Auld and Greg Chapple, also of Brisbane.

Artist impression of Akuna, a beachfront tower proposed by media and investment mogul Ryan Stokes for Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.

Akuna is the latest in a series of new beachfront towers either proposed or under construction on Jefferson Ave.

Ground broke in June on Ignite Projects’ Cabana Palm Beach project after it attracted sales totalling more than $80 million in six weeks.

Quahlee Property last month filed plans with the council for an eight-unit tower to replace a now-demolished duplex building on the street. Its design was inspired by a clam.

Follow @GCS_Pottsy