Gold Coast developers urged to slow down building luxury towers

‘Nobody wants a population cap’ but Gold Coast and Queensland property experts say something has to be done to solve the city’s housing crisis.

PROPERTY sector leaders warn the Gold Coast needs to build fewer luxury towers and aim more developments at the non-wealthy.

The sector, which underwent a multi-billion boom between 2020 and 2022, has a pipeline of around 40 towers currently under construction on the Gold Coast.

However, the bulk are boutique projects with small numbers of units and high asking prices.

With more than 15,000 people moving to the city annually and both rental and housing vacancies remaining stubbornly low, developers are being urged to diversify their proposals.

Mark Witheriff

CBRE Gold Coast boss Mark Witheriff said more build-to-rent projects and affordable living units were needed to take pressure off the city’s housing shortage.

“Market forces will dictate it eventually but right now it doesn’t matter what either the council or state government wants to see built on the Gold Coast in the short term – it cannot be built right now because there are not enough companies able to,” he said.

“Nobody wants a population cap but we have to ensure that we have the infrastructure in place to make sure people can move around the city and council’s approach so far has been quite reasonable – that people are coming here and they need somewhere to live while balancing this with infrastructure.

There has been plenty of development but much of it has been aimed at the luxury market. Picture Glenn Hampson.

“Short-term, the only things being built right now are higher-end developments but what we need are more investment properties or build-to-rent around the working nodes of Robina and Southport as well as in the city’s north.

Mr Witheriff said redeveloping the cane fields in Norwell was the only other significant opportunity to expand the city, however there is no political appetitive for this from the state government.

Several developers including Ron Bakir’s Homecorp, are currently working on build-to-rent projects, with the first expected to open later this year.

Kirsty Chessher-Brown, the CEO of the Queensland branch of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) - the development industry’s peak body – said a range of different housing products were needed to suit the city’s growing population.

Kirsty Chessher-Brown CEO of UDIA Queensland. (Image/Josh Woning)

“It is very clear the Gold Coast population is growing and as we have seen in the past few years there has been massive internal migration into Queensland,” she said.

“We are still seeing strong growth and demand and according to the Regional Plan we need to build an extra 5600 dwellings annually.

“There is no doubt we are growing and that what we need is housing employment possibilities and Getting this right is critically important, not just for the development industry but for the community so they have a pipeline of reliable supply of housing and protection from unexpected shocks.”

The skyline of the Coast is changing. Picture Glenn Hampson

The council last year revealed it had identified a pair of western suburbs – Highland Park and Gaven North – for potential development which would allow hundreds of new homes to be built.

However, these sites are largely already serviced by existing infrastructure. Experts have tipped any development would focus on high-density townhouses to accommodate the city’s growing population, expected to top one million people by 2041

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