Burleigh Tropicana property in central Burleigh Heads for sale

A landmark building — home to one of the Gold Coast’s most famous corner shops — has hit the market. This is what it means for the future

A landmark building — home to one of the Gold Coast’s most famous corner shops — has hit the market.

The 202sq m property, which is anchored by the iconic Tropicana cafe, fronts the Gold Coast Highway and Connor St, Burleigh Heads.

It is being sold, via CBRE, by brothers Nick and George Ross, whose family bought it for $1.33 million in 2020.

Nick Ross said he first sat in the building in 1998 with his mother, Rose, eating hot pork rolls with gravy.

“I said, ‘Mum, I’d like to buy this corner’ but she said I’d never get my hands on a ‘corner like this’.

“I went and knocked on the doors at all the James St property agents and told them that if the corner ever became available, ring me.

“Two years later I got a call and we bought it.”

1 O'Connor St, Burleigh -- corner of GC Hwy

Mr Ross, a Tasmanian, said the buy effectively was a one-for-15 deal for his family.

“We had sold 15 shops in Hobart to the Anglian Church for $1.3 million and that’s what we paid for the 1 Connor St corner.”

Mr Ross, who today owns the property with brother George, said he was spending the bulk of his time in Thailand with his wife, daughter and granddaughter and that was the motivation for the sale.

“It’s time to pass the property on to another generation, someone who might want to go up another level or two,” he said.

The property’s zoning allows a building of up to four floors.

The tenants, Burleigh Tropicana and Mr Kebab, are on monthly leases and the net rents are $401,000.

CBRE’s Mark Witheriff said the property offered an investor or owner-occupier a chance to transform the corner into a landmark retail offering.

“Burleigh Heads has multiple premium residential towers under construction and residents will be seeking new retail offerings to cater for the lifestyle that this suburb has come to expect.”

Mr Witheriff said projects that were contributing to Burleigh Heads becoming a premium lifestyle location included the $450 million included the twin-tower Mondrian, which would include a hotel and apartments.

He is marketing the Ross property, in tandem with CBRE’s Nick Kennedy, in an expressions of interest campaign that closes on July 25.