Gold Coast development: Coolangatta’s Jazzland to be replaced by $130m luxury residential tower

One of the Gold Coast’s oldest buildings will survive transformation by one of Australia’s wealthiest men into a giant $130m luxury high-rise.

ONE of the Gold Coast’s oldest buildings will survive transformation by one of Australia’s wealthiest men into a giant $130m luxury high-rise.

Melbourne-based rich lister Max Beck’s BeckDev - behind a landmark Melbourne CBD mall retaining a stunning historic brick interior structure - will on Friday file plans with council to redevelop the historic Jazzland Dance Palais site on McLean Street, Coolangatta.

BeckDev plans to replace it with a 22-storey tower that will reshape central Coolangatta’s skyline.

The new tower, named Palais, will feature 175 units, a “nostalgic street-level plaza” and retain both the existing facade and elements of the former dance hall’s interior in its new form.

It is the first Gold Coast project for the company, headed by the 79-year-old Mr Beck and his son, Ben Beck.

Picture of the former Jazzland building at 31-35 McClean Street. Picture by Richard Gosling

“We want Palais to be a modern, sophisticated extension of the Coolangatta lifestyle and that’s what we have been working with our architects on,” Ben Beck said.

“We weren’t the only ones to recognise the enormous potential of the site - after all, you can’t get much more central than this in what is undoubtedly one of the Gold Coast’s most renowned beach locales.

“Coolangatta stood out to us as one of the Gold Coast’s gems – its riches lie in its natural amenity, world-class surfing beaches and deep sense of community.”

The Jazzland dance hall was at the heart of the southern suburb’s social scene from its opening in 1928 until its closure in 1951.

For the past 20 years it was home to an antiques shop which recently announced its closure. BeckDev was among six local and interstate buyers vying for the site when it went up for sale earlier this year.

The Becks are experienced developers, having completed projects in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Their best-known venture was the restoration of the historic 333 Collins Street in Melbourne which was built in the 1890s and was expanded to create an office tower while retaining its original interior.

CBRE Gold Coast has been appointed to sell the units, expected to be put on the market in early 2022.

CBRE director Nicholas Clydsdale said southern Gold Coast property market was in high demand.

A flyer for Jazzland dating back to the mid-20th century.

“Coolangatta is undergoing a real popularity focus at the moment, and I think that comes back to its retention of the laid-back surf culture coupled with its unique north-facing topography,” he said.

“We are particularly seeing that growing demand for new product, which has been in incredibly short supply on the southern Gold Coast until recently.”

The retention of historic Gold Coast landmarks has been a contentious debate for 40 years, with several famous buildings from the city’s early days including the Surfers Paradise Hotel demolished to make way for new developments.

It has reignited again in the past decade, with protests against the demolition of Cafe Dbar, Miami Ice and the planned redevelopment of the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade.

Opponents argue the city should not continue to wipe out its past.

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