Palm Beach’s Dorr family to build nine-storey tower on light rail route
It was a holiday home for more than 70 years, but now its owners have been given the go-ahead to redevelop it into a high-end tower, just metres from the light rail route.
Southern
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A longstanding Palm Beach family has been given the green light to redevelop their holiday home of more than 70 years into a high-end tower.
The Gold Coast City Council has approved the Dorr family’s plans for their $55m, nine-storey Seaclusion tower, which is earmarked for a 1200sq m site on Twenty First Ave on the future light rail.
The 40-unit mid-rise tower will replace the family’s home, which was built in the 1940s and has been retained for three generations.
The original house was built in 1948 and was expanded with a second level made of fibro in the late 1960s before taking its current form in the late 1970s.
Despite serious economic headwinds, the rising cost of building materials and supply chain issues, the project will be put to the market this week, with units priced from $695,000 to $1.4m.
Jayde Pezet, co-director of Pezet Matheson, is marketing the project and said inquiries for units on the southern Gold Coast remained high.
“This is an area very close to the Dorr family’s heart, so it was important their family could continue to share in its charm for years to come,” he said.
“Given the difficulty for prospective homeowners to join the Palm Beach community, the family realised their home on Twenty First Ave was a prime opportunity to create something of significance, not only for their loved ones, but for a new generation of Palm Beach locals.”
A Bulletin investigation in June found there are 16 towers in the pipeline for Palm Beach, with around $1bn worth of development reshaping the beachside suburb, despite vehement opposition from some locals to both the tram extension and increased construction activity.
Southern Gold Coast property between Mermaid Beach and Coolangatta remains at a premium, with just 27 sales in the first quarter of the year.
However, a report by property consulting firm Urbis noted this was because of an extremely limited number of units, with just 67 on the market during the three-month period.
“There have been very few new projects launched to market this year, making it next to impossible to secure new product in Palm Beach,” Todd Matheson, co-director of Pezet Matheson, said.
“Seaclusion has stepped in to fill a major gap in the marketplace for high-quality residences, set in the dream beachfront location, accompanied by all the necessary amenities to enhance coastal living.”
Two neighbouring sites have been amalgamated with the family’s property for the site, which will be cleared.
“Siblings Andrew, Cameron, Catherine and Georgina have grown up holidaying in north Palm Beach for over 50 years, following in the footsteps of their parents Alan and Jane, and grandparents Jack and Vi,” a planning report on the project reads.
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