Sundale Motel: Tower proposed by developer MRCB for Queen Street, Southport site

A giant tower with room for more than 400 people has been unveiled for the site of Southport’s historic Sundale Motel. SEE THE PLANS

A 20-storey tower with room for more than 400 people has been unveiled for the site of Southport’s Sundale Motel.

Malaysian developer MRCB International revealed earlier this month it had secured the 1743sq m Queen Street parcel with plans to redevelop it.

Plans lodged with the Gold Coast City Council reveal the tower, to be known as Twenty Queen, will have 180-units of primarily one and two-bedrooms.

It will have “resort-style” amenities including a recreation deck, pool, barbecue areas, sauna and gymnasium.

Artist impression of Twenty Queen, a tower proposed by MRCB to replace the Sundale Motel in Southport.

“The proposed building emphasises its vertical expression and interface with the streetscape through the inclusion of textured facade materials, a soft, natural and subtle colour palette, and use of cascading planters,” a planning report lodged with the council reads.

“With a combination of these design elements, the development affords itself with a statement of identity with its focal point along Queen Street.”

It is the second Gold Coast site for the company, which is already building the $500m 26 Vista project in central Surfers Paradise.

Artist impression of Twenty Queen, a tower proposed by MRCB to replace the Sundale Motel in Southport.

MRCB, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly listed Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad, has secured design firm Plus Architecture to create the project with a brief to “meet the needs of an under-represented market” and “premium living in a highly sought-after location”.

The project is expected to be put to the market in early 2025.

The Sundale Motel has been bought by MRCB

The existing motel, which has 25 units, was built in 1969 to coincide with the opening of the nearby Sundale shopping centre which was, at the time, the state’s largest retail outlet.

The MRCB plan is the latest attempt to redevelop the site.

Plans were unveiled in September 2015 for a 14-storey tower which was to have 133 units – 61 with one-bedroom, 54 with two-bedrooms and 18 with three-bedrooms.

The project was put forward by the site’s then-owner, Real Properties Qld, which bought it for $4.5m.

Its sole director was Paradise Waters resident David Dickson Spankie who moved to sell the site in mid-2019.

Sundale Motel