Golden Age: Gold Coast business leader pushes for government departments to be consolidated into one tower

THE Gold Coast could get its own ‘tower of power’ under a bold proposal to make one famous suburb the centre of government business in the region.

SOUTHPORT’S 53 government departments should be amalgamated into a single building, giving the Gold Coast its answer to Brisbane’s “Tower of Power’’.

That’s the push from one of the city’s leading business figures who says the project, which could be built by the private sector, would set up the city’s central business district for the next decade.

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The tower of power. Picture: Howard Lutton

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Committee for Southport head John Howe says such a project would be modelled on what was done in Brisbane when the then-Newman government initiated the 1 William St supertower project to replace multiple small government buildings that were later demolished and redeveloped.

“You will find there are 53 government departments in Southport at the moment and what we are wanting is the State to lead a campaign to involve the council and Federal Government to consolidate all of them,” he said.

“Southport has done the heavy lifting for more than 100 years in terms of community and we now want a co-ordinated response.

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Chairman of the Commitee of Southport John Howe Picture by Scott Fletcher

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“This would give enough density of office product for developers to put together a sizeable development of further space

“There must be a co-ordinated approach to the consolidation of all existing and future assets as well as the recognition of the important legal, education and social services fraternities.”

Southport was named as the Gold Coast’s official central business district in 2013 in recognition of its historic position as the city’s traditional heart.

The State Government also named the suburb as a priority development area (PDA) the same year in a push to spark more development.

The Tower of Power. AAP Image: Steve Pohlner

Although several major projects, such as the $550 million Queen Street Village development on the old Gold Coast hospital site, have moved forward, business and political leaders have become frustrated at cases of land banking and projects failing to proceed.

Acting Mayor Donna Gates said she wanted a prominent government department such as health or tourism to be established in the city.

“We have tried to encourage the State Government to bring a department to Southport to promote it as our CBD but we have not been able to do this,” she said.

“Personally I do not care where the staff are located as long as we have the job opportunities here in our city.

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Deputy Mayor Donna Gates. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“I want to get this commitment from the state, perhaps for tourism or health and this would really help establish Southport as our CBD.”

But not everyone was convinced it would help.

Zippy’s cafe owner John Georgiou said they could put buildings everywhere and it wouldn’t make a difference.

“Why build a new building when the existing ones aren’t even full?” Mr Georgiou said.

“The Seabank building may be big but only two to three floors are full of employees.

“The Government don’t listen to small businesses anyway, so why would I care?”

Zippy's Cafe’s John Georgiou. Photo by Richard Gosling

Mr Georgiou said only 2 per cent of his customers were from foot traffic, meaning he was heavily reliant on employees working in surrounding offices.

“Southport and Bundall have many buildings but they are empty and it affects us,’’ he said.

Telecommuting was another reason for a decrease in turnover, he said.

“Everyone works from home now,” he said.

“As soon as people make it easier on themselves they are affecting something bigger.’’