Soheil Abedian: Ex-Sunland boss calls for development reform, saying its too easy for tower approval

A leading developer has called for widespread “radical” reform, arguing it’s too easy for projects which will never get off the ground to get the green light.

A leading developer has called for widespread “radical” reform of the Gold Coast City Council’s approval process, arguing it’s too easy for projects which will never get off the ground to get the green light.

Ex-Sunland boss Soheil Abedian, has called for a shake-up of the system, warning unchecked approvals have driven up land values, made it harder for the non-wealthy to buy property and left “bomb sites” undeveloped across the city.

The 40-year industry veteran, who now heads Mermaid Beach-based outfit Abedian and Co, says reform is needed at both a local and state level to ensure more housing is delivered rather than simply proposed.

“Greed has become now the notion of good economy and this is not sustainable long term, so my opinion is that the approval should be given to buildings as long as a time frame has been imposed on it so that the development must occur within a given time,” he said.

“Right now, approval is granted, the land increases in value automatically and who is ultimately paying for that increase? It is the consumer.

Soheil Abedian Picture by Richard Gosling

“If a developer wants to sell their site, the approval should automatically be cancelled and require the buyer to put forward their own plans.”

Mr Abedian said his view was “radical” but insisted the current system could not continue long-term.

“(Land) speculation has become the model of our time,” he said.

“The council, the community and the individual developer must work together – they have to have a common vision because, in the end, why are we developing?

“If it is purely for increasing our wealth and not looking about a humanity as a whole – that everybody has a right to live and everybody has the right to enjoy Gold Coast – then we are actually defrauding the public as such.

“The approval has to be granted to the developer specifically for the land and if they fail to develop, the approval should no longer be valid.”

Under the current system, the council issues an approval for developments which are valid for a period of five years.

These approvals can be renewed essentially indefinitely and remain valid even after the site is sold.

They also serves as benchmarks for what would be allowed to be built or approved on the site in the future if the new owner creates their own project.

Councillor Mark Hammel. Picture: Glenn Campbell

City planning boss Councillor Mark Hammel said he was open to changes but cautioned against one single solution.

“We shouldn''t just do any one thing,” he said.

“There are a number of things which we could do between the state and local government to reduce land banking or encourage more development in a timely manner.

“However we would need to be careful not to pull a policy levers which would add to the cost of a project.”

Nearly 40,000 units which have been approved for the Gold Coast in the past decade but not yet started.

The 2023 Gold Coast Dwelling Supply Study, released last year, warned the state government’s updated dwelling supply estimates for the Gold Coast are “questionable”, with existing greenfield sites able to viably deliver 17,564 houses.

This is less than a third of the state’s target of 57,194.

The report, which analyses the state of the city’s development sector, warns the existing Southeast Queensland Regional Plan urban footprint should be dumped – a move which would allow developable land such as Norwell Valley in the northern Gold Coast to be unlocked for housing.

Andrew Henderson Picture: Jerad Williams

Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) Gold Coast boss Andrew Henderson argued a middle ground was possible between the current system and Mr Abedian’s proposal but said there had been fewer development applications submitted in recent years that were never going to “stack up”.

“The people who own that land have the right to seek a development application and, if it doesn’t stack up or the economy changes, have every right to on-sell it but perhaps there should be a reduced time-frame for the DA should the site be sold,” he said.

“It might give a hurry along (for projects) while respecting the time and effort it takes to get it all into place – a middle ground.

“Most developers have the right intentions and it seems that building costs have been the biggest issue that stopped a lot of projects from proceeding.”