THINK TANK: Gold Coast commercial agent Mark Witheriff says the city needs a new central sporting stadium

GOLD Coast commercial agent Mark Witheriff believes a central sporting stadium is the ticket to lifting the city’s economic and lifestyle game.

Mark Witheriff on the Gold Coast. Pic by Luke Marsden.

Mark Witheriff, with leading commercial leasing agent Tania Moore, is joint managing director of Knight Frank Gold Coast. Mr Witheriff was born and bred in the city, has run some of the Coast’s largest commercial property agencies and has helped broker some of the city’s landmark transactions including Sheraton Mirage and Royal Pines. He also made the city’s two largest office building sales — 50 Cavill Avenue and the Corporate Centre and has sold tourism retail such as the Oracle in Broadbeach and Circle on Cavill in Surfers Paradise. In the mid-90s, Mr Witheriff lived in Hong Kong for three and a half years and still travels regularly throughout South East Asia and China sniffing out inbound investment opportunities. After holding on through the Gold Coast’s roller-coaster property cycle for more than 30 years, Mr Witheriff believes the last downturn was deeper and longer than anyone expected. However, the city is emerging from the storm stronger, with a more resilient economy thanks largely to the increasing population and improved offerings for tourists.

What do you love about the Gold Coast?

“Being born and bred here, I’m always keen to suggest it’s the physical beauty of the beaches, the waterways and the hinterland, but the other big winner to me is the general spirit of the city.

“While over the years we’ve attracted a few rogues, there is a general sense of confidence within the business community and a true entrepreneurial flair that has delivered some of Australia’s best developments, giving an environment which is a great place to live and work.”

What do you think can be done better on the Gold Coast?

“We have a city which is bound by beach frontage and has an internal artery of some of the best waterways you could ever find in any part of the world, but I still cannot believe that we do not engage with them from a commercial and lifestyle perspective.

“If you look at central Surfers Paradise, with the exception of the night markets on the beachfront, there is no real life between the sand and the western side of the Esplanade.

“The Broadwater Parklands is a major step forward, but there is still a long way to go in unlocking this extraordinary asset.”

In your travels. what have you seen being done elsewhere you think could work well here?

“Transport infrastructure — it’s a no-brainer. We have now developed a truly world-class tourism destination, and we have one of the country’s busiest domestic and international airports, but when they disembark, how do they get to their hotel?

“In the majority of major cities throughout the world you walk off the plane, walk onto a train and then into your hotel. If you look at cities like Hong Kong, they have a wonderful transport infrastructure which makes travel to and from the airport a breeze.”

If money, laws, time and approvals were no issue, what is one big project you’d undertake tomorrow?

“I’d love to see a stadium in the heart of the city between Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise. “Whilst the Metricon and CBus stadiums are wonderful facilities, imagine if we could host major sporting and cultural events and live concerts in the centre of the city, which could be supported by the existing light rail transport system for easy access.

“It would be surrounded by high-rise apartments, metres from the beach and would be an extraordinary place to host the opening of the Commonwealth Games with the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.

“A facility like this would also go a long way in creating a real heart to the city.”

What conversations should Gold Coast movers and shakers be having?

“While we all love the Gold Coast as it is, reality is, if we are going to calm the peaks and troughs of the market cycles within the Gold Coast, we are going to need growth in population and more depth to our industry other than just building construction and tourism.

“I have been encouraged by the push from the City Council and State Governments with a focus on adding additional pillars of industry such as health and education as well as encouraging Asian immigration to the city.

“However we do need more people and more jobs, and somewhere for them all to live and work from.”