Decision to approve Katie Page’s Gold Coast beachfront tower opens door for eight-storey development
THE landmark decision to approve Katie Page’s beachfront tower at Main Beach has opened the door to a new eight-storey development causing outrage with neighbours.
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THE landmark decision to approve Katie Page’s beachfront tower at Main Beach has opened the door to a new eight-storey development causing outrage with neighbours.
Gold Coast City Council has approved an application from developer Louis Zenonos for the tower at 3531 Main Beach Pde.
Mr Zenonos paid $8.2 million in an offmarket sale for the 792sq m block, sold by former Hayman Homes owner Stephen Anderson.
Ms Page, who is co-owner of Magic Millions and the wife of Harvey Norman founder Gerry Harvey, undertook a long and costly battle to gain approval for a luxury eight-level building, called M3565 Main Beach Parade.
The building was given the green light in 2011 despite it breaching the three-storey height limit and 800 formal objections from Main Beach residents.
Main Beach Association president David Hutley said the tower was a “worry” for residents.
“From my point of view it will worry people across the road (from the building) and we will try to represent them as well,” he said.
Mr Hutley said the decision to approve Ms Page’s building had set a precedent for development along the beachfront, making it difficult to successfully oppose new towers.
“There’s no question about that in my mind. We would be banging our head against a brick wall (to oppose new towers) whether we like it or not,” he said.
Ray White Prestige Gold Coast sales agent Robert Graham, who negotiated the deal, said the apartments would be the “best built on the Gold Coast”.
“They will be out of this world. They’ll have the best luxury finishes and because of the block size, each unit will be 450sq m,” he said.
Mr Graham said there would be seven apartments including a two-level penthouse.
He said it would be a much-needed injection of new stock in the Main Beach market, where many luxury towers were more than 20 years old.
Council planning boss Cameron Caldwell said the project was one of a spate of similar developments which had been proposed in the city.
“High-end, high-quality apartments are an attractive product for the development sector and there is a market for one or two units per floor to maintain the highest level of residential amenity,” he said.
“Often these developments featured architectural design elements and a real wow factor for a Gold Coast lifestyle.”
Work is under way on Ms Page’s tower where apartment prices start near $5 million.
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