Robert Badalotti: Southport developer behind Imperial Square project reveals how to fix Gold Coast’s CBD

The developer who wants to create a 108-storey tower in the heart of Southport says the council must do one thing to help builders speed up the CBD’s revitalisation. Read his plan

The developer who wants to create a 108-storey tower in the heart of Southport says the council must take the handbrakes off builders to speed up the CBD’s revitalisation.

Azzura Group boss Robert Badalotti says Southport should be the target for many developers but has urged the council to make key changes to ensure more projects get off the ground.

Mr Badalotti who will complete stage 1 of his $3bn Imperial Square project in early 2024 has called for significant changes to the Southport Priority Development Area (PDA) policy which he says will unlock billions of dollars worth of frozen projects.

“Not everyone has abandoned Southport and we are totally committee to and intend to do all four towers (in the already approved Imperial Square masterplan), which we are on the road to delivering,” he said.

Azzura Group CEO Robert Badalotti. Picture: Supplied.

“But the council needs to support us and back us – we have a fantastic group of developers here on the Gold Coast who want to do great projects and are loyal to this town but they need to speed up the process.

“We did the second stage of our project through The PDA and yet it still took us seven months to get approval and that isn’t how it is supposed to work, it’s meant to be six weeks.”

Developers and city leaders have long been disappointed by the lack of major projects which have been completed in the decade since Southport was given Priority Development Area (PDA) status in the hopes of kickstarting billions of dollars in major projects and jobs.

Instead, some developers gained council approval for development applications to lift the value of the site, before selling.

New artist impressions of Robert Badalotti's Imperial Square project in Southport. Picture: Supplied

It means the CBD has become littered with closed or for-lease shops, and billions of dollars worth of towers have failed to materialise.

Council is reviewing the PDA but the results will not be known until 2024.

Mr Badalotti said he would begin construction of Monarch Place, the 500m-tall, 40-storey tower second stage of his development in 2024.

It will be built on the 1.4ha site on the corner of Ferry Road and Meron Street and will have 223 “premium” units, more than half of which will be an “exclusive vertical retirement village”.

The third stage will be the 68-storey Imperial tower followed by the 108-level The Majesty.

The council approved the masterplan for the project in 2016.

New artist impressions of Robert Badalotti's Imperial Square project in Southport. Picture: Supplied

It has undergone numerous design changes in recent years, with the number of towers fluctuating between three and four.

Despite that failure of projects to eventuate, a recent report by Colliers Gold Coast delved into its potential.

It declared Southport was a “sleeping giant” on the back of Colliers alone recording more than $44m of sales between January and May.

“The Southport CBD has firmly established itself as the Gold Coast’s city centre with the highest concentration of employment and population,” the report reads.

“With city-changing projects expected to become a reality, commercial redevelopment opportunities are emerging in the precinct, which is a crucial location for the city’s expanded transport network.”

Colliers’ Gold Coast director-in-charge Steven King, speaking upon the release of the report earlier this year, said there had been an uptick in interest from buyers and investors in the past year.

“Over the past six months we’ve experienced a surge in demand from investors, developers and end-users for properties in Southport CBD, which is fast becoming the go-to precinct for many of them,” he said.