Gold Coast development: Historic Coolangatta KFC building to be demolished for new tower

The landmark site of the southern Gold Coast’s first KFC fast-food restaurant will be transformed into a giant tower. SEE THE PLANS

THE former home of the southern Gold Coast’s first KFC fast-food restaurant will be transformed into a tower.

The unnamed 19-storey high-rise will be built on Coolangatta’s McLean St, replacing the Sunhouse surf shop, cafe and bar and a camper van rental lot.

The tower is being pitched by Nerang-based company Alvey 11, headed by 40-year-old Mermaid Waters resident John Siegfried Kearney.

A development application has been submitted to the Gold Coast City Council for the tower, which will have 63 two and three-bedroom apartments and a cafe tenancy on the ground floor.

The tower, which will have four units per floor, has been designed by leading Gold Coast-based firm BDA Architecture to “contribute positively to the advancement of the city’s iconic skyline”.

“Positioned at the south western end of the Coolangatta centre zone, a residential tower at this location will be part of the Coolangatta cluster of taller buildings,” a planning report on the project reads.

The original KFC in Coolangatta

“The proposed tower will blend and be mostly obscured from view by an existing group of Coolangatta towers when viewed from the Coolangatta beach and esplanade.

“The proposed development is of a modern contemporary design, adopting a form and character which ensures that a high-quality living environment will be provided within the proposed apartments and their private outdoor spaces.”

The hut-shaped building on the 986sq m site was built in the 1970s as the home of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant which became a popular landmark in the area.

It is the second new tower planned for McLean St in recent weeks and is among a wave of new high-rises either approved or under construction in Coolangatta.

In November, Melbourne-based rich lister Max Beck’s BeckDev – behind a landmark Melbourne CBD mall retaining a stunning historic brick interior structure – filed plans with council to redevelop the historic Jazzland to build a 22-storey tower that will reshape central Coolangatta’s skyline. The new tower, named Palais, will feature 175 units and a “nostalgic street-level plaza”.

Council this year has already ticked off more than $200m worth of developments in Coolangatta, including the $130m Esprit towers on Boundary Street and the under-construction $46m Awaken Residences.

$22m: Inside Gold Coast’s most expensive unit

The penthouse of the luxury tower replacing the Old Burleigh Theatre will hit the market with an eye-watering $22m price tag.

The two-level unit inside Burleigh Heads’ planned 14-storey De-Luxe tower is expected to be the most expensive in the city’s history.

More than 60 per cent of the 28 units have already sold since the project was put to the market six weeks ago.

Developer Wei Wang of Weiya Holdings said his tower, which was opposed by many long-term residents, was the most innovative and progressive in Burleigh.

“Elements of the building’s history are woven throughout the redeveloped structure, including a motion picture showcase in the public ground floor space,” he said.

“Our revitalisation is something truly unique, maintaining connection to community while providing sought-after contemporary residences on one of the Gold Coast’s most coveted beachfronts.”

Burleigh Heads has become one of the Gold Coast’s hottest property markets in the past year, with real estate agents dubbing it “Queensland’s Bondi Beach”.

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